


OPPORTUNITY Micah Bell x OC [Completed]

by mjarashi



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, Red Dead Redemption 2 Spoilers, Romance, Video Game: Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), Western
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:42:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 54,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjarashi/pseuds/mjarashi
Summary: Elizabeth Forcier is the daughter of a wealthy man in Blackwater. During a social event, she meets Micah Bell and ends up offering an opportunity to the van der Linde gang. A few months later, Elizabeth and Micah meet again, but this time, the roles are reversed.Red Dead Redemption 2 Micah Bell x OC
Relationships: Micah Bell/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Story originally on Wattpad (mjarashi), go see my other works if you liked it ;)

Blackwater, 1899. 

In the garden of one of the big house just outside of the city was a party, allowing wealthy people to meet with each other, and boast endlessly about how they spend their money. It was at this kind of social event that Mister Forcier would bring his unique daughter, Elizabeth, in the hope to finally find a man willing to take her for wife. Mister Forcier never liked his daughter as he only sees her as the cause of his wife's death. Elizabeth's mother died while giving birth to her. Since then, Mr. Forcier only just tolerates his daughter, and lately, grow even more impatient to get rid of her.

So here they were, walking in the garden, looking for available young men. This on its own was not the hardest part. Elizabeth Forcier was a very beautiful young lady with long brown hair and green eyes. The problem was that she was not the typical kind of wife that those men were looking for. And this is exactly what is going to lead us to the start of our story.

***

A comment deemed too presumptuous and Elizabeth was dragged by her father, furious, inside the house away from the crowd. Sure Elizabeth knew it was never the best idea to talk her mind in these kinds of situations, but lord did it felt good to see the expression of utter shock on the face of this William Fletcher, as boastful as he was boring.  
But now she has to face the fury of her father who was looking at her with pure anger. 

"You're proud of yourself I guess? Making of fool of this man in front of his family! I already told you, you go on like that and I'll never find a single man willing to take you as a wife!" her father shouted. 

Elizabeth tried to defend herself. "But father! You heard what he said about..." She did not get to finish her sentence as her father slapped her violently, causing her to stumble. Elizabeth looked at her father, a mix of surprise and anger on her face as she reached her swollen cheek with a trembling hand.

"You'll regret that!" she spat, looking at her father in the eyes. 

He walked toward her, his arm raised, when they heard footsteps approaching. Elizabeth’s father quickly glanced at his daughter before heading to the garden and disappearing into the crowd.

"You okay there?" the stranger asked. 

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you" Elizabeth answered quietly before turning around to face the unknown man. 

He must have been in his late thirty, with dirty blond hair, just above the shoulders, and blue eyes. He was wearing a white costume with a red shirt underneath. But what stood out the most to Elizabeth was his mustache, a thick horseshoe with side whiskers, as it was not the most common look in those kinds of social events. A rugged appearance, but clearly not unpleasant.

The man was looking at her with a serious expression. He has witness the whole confrontation and has emerged from his hiding in order to keep the father away from the young woman. He was never the sensitive one, but to see her in such a state, trembling. He did not really know why, but he had to step in.

They both looked at each other for a moment, before Elizabeth, feeling the stinging in her cheek, came back to her senses. 

"I... I should go put some cold on my face if you'll excuse me. Thank you again for your concern, Mister?" she asked with a soft smile.  
"Bell. Micah Bell" he said.

She smiled at him before heading toward the ladies' restroom while he quickly nodded at her, his gaze never leaving her until she disappeared behind the door. He then walked out in the garden, having research to do for his boss, the infamous Dutch van der Linde.

After cooling her delicate face with some fresh water, Elizabeth decided to head back to the party. She was here, so she might as well enjoy herself with some champagne and good foods. She tried to overhear some groups' discussion, but nothings seemed too captivating for her, so she went for another drink and headed for the gazebo, a bit away of the sound of the party but close enough so she could still hear the music. She then noticed a silhouette leaning against one of the stone pillars of the structure, smoking a cigarette. She hesitated a bit before deciding to go on with her plan. The sound of her heels against the stone stairs caught the attention of the person who was now looking at her. That was when she recognized him. The man who helped her before.

"Seems like we meet again, Mister Bell" Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Indeed it seems, Miss?" Micah asked with a small nod.

"Elizabeth Forcier" she answered before adding "Do you mind if I keep you company for a bit? I'm getting rather tired of the noise".

"Be my guest" Micah said with a smirk.

With a small nod, she walked to the railing and delicately placed her glass and then her small hands on it, her eyes watching the horizon in front of her. Meanwhile, Micah had tossed his finished cigarette, still leaning against the pillar and was also facing the horizon. They both stayed like that for a moment in a comfortable silence. It was Elizabeth who it broke first.

"What are you doing here Mister Bell, if you don't mind me asking?" she said, still looking in front of her.

"Enjoying a party and some good foods, as everyone else I guess" he shrugged. Elizabeth laughed softly.

"I mean no offense, but you do look a bit out of place here" she said, her smile growing bigger as she looked at him.

"Ah! Is it that obvious?" he said, flashing her a little grin.

"Just a tiny bit" she laughed, showing a small space between her index and her thumb.

Micah chuckled, looking in front of him while Elizabeth sipped a bit of champagne from her glass before putting it down again.

"So would you not tell me what your real intentions are?" she said, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Well, let's say I'm here looking for opportunities" he answered with a small grin. He was not really sure why he was telling her that much. Himself and the other members were supposed to make themselves as discreet as possible while gathering names and address for potential robbery. But something about her made him think that it was alright to share this much.

"Opportunities" she repeated, still smiling. "And what kind of opportunities may I ask?" 

"Aren't you a curious one?" he said, raising an eyebrow. Elizabeth understood that she would not get much more information about those opportunities. Another silence fell between the two as Elizabeth drank some more champagne.

"The man before, he’s your father?" Micah asked as he lighted a cigarette, serious expression on his face. 

She looked at him, a bit surprised by his sudden question, before lowering her gaze to her hands on the railing.

"Yes, he is" she said, barely above a murmur.

"He's always like that with you?" Micah asked, quickly glancing at her. 

"He never beat me before, if it's what you're asking. But he never loved me neither. He blames me for my mother's death. She died giving birth to me" Elizabeth sighed, sparing Micah a sad smile. "Now he just tolerates me because he has to as my father, and he can't wait to find me a husband so that he can finally get rid of me. And after the event of tonight, I'm also very willing to be freed of him" she said, her face hardening after remembering the behavior of her father.

Micah looked at her, his brows slightly furrowed. He was going to ask her something but a voice suddenly interrupted him.

"Micah! Is everything alright there? We're getting ready to leave soon!"

"Sure boss, coming in a bit!" answered Micah.

Elizabeth looked at their interaction, and a bell suddenly rang in her head. She had her suspicion about what kind of business Micah was in. But now she was certain of it and she even had an idea.

"Mister Bell?" she asked.

"Mmh?" Micah was walking toward the stairs of the gazebo.

"I think I might have an opportunity for you and your friend. A great one" Elizabeth said, something sparkling in her green eyes.

"I'm all ears Miss" Micah looked at her, a wild smirk growing on his face.

"The Forcier's house, just outside the city. Come tomorrow at night with your friends and some bags" she said with an unreadable expression.

"Got that" he tilted his head before turning around and walking to meet Dutch, with good news.

Elizabeth watched him leave before grabbing her glass, finishing it in one go before heading back home.

***

In the stagecoach, Micah quickly told the other men about his fresh opportunity.

"You're sure about this? Doesn't it look a bit suspicious to you?" Dutch asked Micah. As much as Dutch trusted Micah, he has to admit that they did not have much information. They did not even know what they will steal neither if they should expect guards.

"You can trust me on this one boss. The girl clearly hates her father" Micah had explain how he had met her and under what circumstances. "I'm guessing she's gonna give us some of his money or precious stuffs that he keeps" he shrugged, trying to convince the men in the coach to believe in his plan.

"Alright, alright, we'll go take a look at this Elizabeth's house" finally agreed Dutch.

Micah was smirking as he looked out the window. He could not help but feel excited to discover what Elizabeth had in store for them.

As for Elizabeth, when at home, she went straight into her room, allowing her to avoid meeting her father. She did not wish to see him at all tonight. Laying in her bed, she could not stop thinking about tomorrow. Her father was meant to leave the city early in the morning and was not to come back for the next two days. What a perfect occasion to make him regret his action from the evening. 

***

The morning came rather quickly for Elizabeth. She wandered in the house for a while, enjoying the calm of an empty house. Her father would normally yell at her, either because the breakfast was not ready early enough, or because she was still day-dreaming instead of doing her studies. He spent a fair amount of money on teachers so that his daughter would learn all that is expected of an accomplished young lady. This included sewing, music playing, singing, writing, reading, and a few more. If she was against the idea of being the perfect little wife in the kitchen, but she had to admit that at least all those “hobbies” kept her rather busy.  
When the night came, she took a long warm bath and then put on a simple yet very elegant burgundy dress, her chocolate hair falling in her back in soft waves. She was reading a book in the leaving room when she heard three distinct knocks on the backdoor. She opened it and discovered a man with black hair and a charismatic smile on his face. Behind him were Micah and another tall man with blue eyes.

“Good evening Miss Forcier. My name is Dutch van der Linde” the dark haired said while lifting his hand. Elizabeth went to shake it, but Mr. van der Linde smoothly grabbed her hand and took it to his mouth before lightly kissing her knuckles. Elizabeth tried to hide her surprise by inviting the three men to enter after getting a small nod from Micah and a quick introduction from the man named Arthur Morgan. 

“My father works with various jewelers in the region. He is responsible for checking the quality of the precious stone before delivering them. And it turns out we currently have a lot of stones upstairs, waiting to be delivered” Elizabeth said while turning her back to the three outlaws and heading toward the stairs. 

“Before that,” Dutch started “I’m sorry, but I must ask. How do we know we can trust you and that it is not just a set up? You have to admit that this offer is a bit too good to true”

Elizabeth, already on the first step of the stairs, turned around to face the man. Her gaze fell quickly on Micah, before landing on Dutch.

“I understand your worries Mr. van der Linde. As Mister Bell probably already told you, I do not have the best relationship with my father. I just thought it could be a good pay-back, and Mister Bell just happened to be around at the right time. Nothing more” Elizabeth explained. 

While she was talking, Micah could not avert his eyes from her. Sure she was different from when he saw her yesterday. She was not wearing a fancy dress or a complicate hairstyle, but it almost felt to him as she was even more beautiful, with her long hair dancing around her shoulders and her thin dress falling perfectly on her body. He though she was simply beautiful.

“Very well!” exclaimed Dutch, pulling Micah back to his senses. “Then it seems that we are indeed the men you need Miss Forcier”

“In this case, please follow me” Elizabeth said with a soft smile before leading the way upstairs.

She led them in her father room, where he kept the precious stones between transactions. 

“Well, I’m sure smart men like know a way to open a lockbox without its code” Elizabeth said with a candid smile.

“Now I see why you took me with you” the man called Arthur grumbled while stepping toward the lockbox.

After a few minutes of concentration, Arthur managed to open the safe. During this time, Micah kept glancing at Elizabeth, only looking elsewhere when he felt her looking his way.

“If it is alright with Miss Forcier, I propose Arthur go first with a part, then me, and then Micah. It will attract less attention that way” proposed Dutch  
“No objection from me” Elizabeth agreed after glancing toward Micah, her eyes meeting his.

As planned, Arthur left, followed a few minutes after by a very joyful Dutch. It is not every day that you get your pockets full of precious stones without having to threaten or fight.

“So long, Miss Forcier. This was a mighty fine gift that you gave us. And so that you know, you are more than welcome among us, if one day you want to escape this life. You always will be” Dutch said to Elizabeth, a solemn expression on his face. He then nodded toward Micah before leaving. Only Elizabeth and Micah remained in the empty house.

“Your friends are very sympathetic Mister Bell” Elizabeth said to fulfill the silent room while they were waiting.

“If you say so” Micah grumbled. He was leaning against a wall, his hat covering his face.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight” Elizabeth added quietly. She was sitting on the desk, looking at the man with her head tilted to the side.  
“Ain’t got much to say” Micah shrugged. Elizabeth chuckled softly. 

But Micah knew that he was very silent. The truth was he has been thinking about Elizabeth the all day. Normally, he did not think about women that much, he never really get involved with them. But then why has his body moved on its own the night before to prevent this man, her father, to get any closer to her? Why did he talk to her as much as he did? And why did his heart beat a bit faster when he saw her in this simple dress? He did not know and did not like it.

“I think I can go now” Micah said as he grabbed his bag full of stones.

“Right. Sure. I’ll walk you to the door” Elizabeth said while standing. He quickly looked at her before opening the door and holding it open for her to pass first.

“My! Such a gentleman Mister Bell” said Elizabeth with a playful smile. She felt that he was different from the night before. Even if it was short, she appreciated the time she spent with him. But maybe it was nothing, just a job for him and a way to take her revenge for her.

When they reached the door, Micah turned around and looked at her in the eyes for the first time since they were left alone.

“Well, thanks I guess” Micah said while putting his heavy bag on his shoulder. Elizabeth simply nodded with a small smile. Micah cleared his throat before reaching for the doorknob. Before he could open the door, he felt a hand tugging to his sleeves. He turned back to look at the small hand, and then up to Elizabeth’s eyes. They both stared at each other before Elizabeth made a few steps toward the man, still frozen from the sudden contact. She got closer, their faces just inches away. His eyes involuntary dropped to her lips, before meeting her eyes again. She noticed it, which made her looked down at his lips while getting even closer.

It was as if the time as stopped around them. But then Elizabeth let out a soft sigh before looking him in the eyes again and letting go of his sleeve.

“Thank you Mister Bell, for everything” she said, with a soft smile, slightly moving away from the man.

Micah let out a breath he did not knew he was holding before nodding quickly, hiding his face under the brim of his hat in the process.

“Sure” he answered, not trusting his voice to say more.

“Be careful now” she breathed out, holding her hands behind her back.

“You too Miss” Micah said before turning his back to her. He quickly opened the door and disappeared in the night.

Elizabeth closed the door with a long sight before heading to her room, even though she knew she will not be able to sleep anytime soon.

At this moment, neither of them knew how much this simple opportunity would change both their life, and not for the best. It was in April 1899, a few weeks before one of Blackwater’s biggest incident.


	2. Chapter 2

A few months have passed since Elizabeth met Micah and the Van der Linde gang in Blackwater. After their little business, Elizabeth had to leaves The Great Plains with her father, as no one wanted to deal with him anymore after the robbery of the precious stones. Even if her father did not know it was Elizabeth’s plan, he still held her for responsible, as she was at home and could not protect his valuable wares. They travelled around a few places, tried their luck in Strawberry. But this town being quite small and picturesque, Elizabeth’s father did not manage to establish his business. This, or the fact that he had developed a new passion for liquors, and got them thrown out by mayor’s order. They were now heading east, in direction of a small livestock town called Valentine. Mister Forcier now had new plans that consisted in getting her daughter to marry someone with some fortune who could provide them a roof and food. This was the only reason he kept his daughter with him. 

During those months, she kept thinking about her encounter with a part of the Van der Linde gang. She could not stop thinking about Dutch’s proposition. What kind of life could she have if she had joined them? It was hard for her to imagine something worse than her current life. She could only imagine their life with a lot of freedom, and she envied them for that. She felt so stuck with her father, but she could not run away on her own, she would not survive long. So for now, she just dreamed about their freedom, and also sometimes about a certain blonde outlaw who kept appearing in her dreams.

***

When they arrived in Valentine, Elizabeth’s father first rented a room, and went straight to the saloon to try to gather information about potential wealthy travelers passing through the town. And to drink, of course.

Elizabeth took this chance to wander across the town. She went to the stable and spent a moment there, looking at the horses and petting them. She also discovered a little tent in which they played movies. She decided to buy a ticket and ended up watching a weird story about bear cubs being turned into sausage in front of their mom. Really weird. 

A few days passed before her father came to see her, a little sober than usual as she was reading on a bench in front of the hotel.

“I found one! I finally found a man with money looking for a woman! You’re gonna meet him in the saloon this afternoon. Go make yourself a bit pretty, I wait for you here" her father said quickly.

“But..” Elizabeth tried to say.

“But nothing! Hurry up now!" her father yelled.

Elizabeth did not try to argue any more, she just closed her book and stood up before entering the hotel and going to her room upstairs. She did not want to do any efforts, so she just quickly combed her hair and tied it in a loose braid. She also changed her dress, so that her father would notice she changed something. She looked at herself in the mirror before letting out a long sight and exiting the room to join her father outside. He seemed satisfied by her appearance and led her in front of the big saloon.

“Okay, so his name is Peter Blooming. His father works in the tobacco industry. Just be polite, smile and don’t talk too much. You can do that right?” Her father asked, holding her tightly by her upper arm. Elizabeth simply nodded. She hated these arranged dates her father forced her to go, but she still had a slight hope that maybe she will meet a decent man, and finally be freed from her father’s hand. This was why when she entered the saloon, she stood tall, with a subtle smile on her face. Her father quickly indicated a table to her near the window. He then headed toward the bar, already ordering a drink. Elizabeth walked toward the table before introducing herself to the young man sat there.

While she took place at the table, she did not notice the blonde man in the back of the saloon observing her from under his hat. He was sitting at a table, drinking a beer. His eyes landed on her as soon as she entered the place, and did not left her when she sat with the young man near the window. It has been a few months but Micah recognized her straight away. Her figure. Her long brown hair. And of course her beautiful green eyes, even if they were not as sparkly as he remembered them. 

He was not expecting to see her again, even less in a little dirty town like Valentine. But here she was, with her father and obviously still looking for a husband.

The afternoon passed, and Elizabeth was beyond bored. The man in front of her was just “empty”. He talked the entire time about himself, about how his family was rich thanks to their high quality tobacco plants, and, again, about himself. She kept a polite smile on her face, knowing that her father was somewhere, probably drunk, but still able to tell if she was looking too visibly annoyed. At some point, the man, Peter Blooming, got a bit closer to her, a confident smile on his face.

“You’re really a lovely lady. Quiet, just as I like them” he said, getting his chair even closer to hers and putting his hand on her clothed knee.

“Excuse me? What do you think you are doing?” Elizabeth said, her eyes widening as she tensed at the contact.

“Shh, don’t worry, no one would see” Peter whispered to her ear. 

Micah noticed the gesture and the clear discomfort of the young lady. He did not have the time to put down his beer that Elizabeth had already thrown the content of her glass in Peter’s face. She then tried to get out of the saloon, but her father, drunk and red of anger, had already grabbed her by the arm, and was now pulling her toward the door at the back of the saloon. When outside, Elizabeth’s father let go of her arm and slapped her with such strength that the woman fell in the mud. 

“How can you be so useless?!” he shouted at her “Why can’t you just smile and shut up for once?!”

He then grabbed her by the hair, ready to hit her again. But the loud bang of the door opening interrupted him. Micah was pointing his revolver at the man’s head. 

“Don’t touch her. Never again“ Micah growled. 

Elizabeth’s father let go of his daughter to face the stranger.

“Who the fuck are you?” he said, staggering a little.

“Just get lost before I kill you” Micah menaced him with a low voice, while pulling back the hammer of his gun.

Elizabeth father was not dumb enough to play the brave in front of an angry man with a gun. He ran away, slipping in the mud.

Micah put his gun back in its holster before looking at Elizabeth. She was still in the mud, her eyes looking at the ground, empty. He approached carefully and kneeled in front of her.

“Seems like I’ve saved you once again” he said with a small smirk.

“I can’t. I can’t do that no more” Elizabeth sighed.

“Can’t do what” asked Micah, his face serious again and his brows furrowed. 

“Live this life. I tried, but it’s never enough...” A single tear falling on her cheek.

Micah looked at her for a moment. He raised his arm and wiped the tear with his thumb. She tensed and looked at him with wide eyes. Micah only looked at his hand, which he lowered to her lip, bleeding because of the slap she received. 

“Start a new one then. I’m pretty sure Dutch’s offer is still on the table” Micah said, finally meeting her eyes.

“But I don’t know how to live like this” she said, looking at her lap.

Micah stood up and offered her his hand.

“That we can teach you” he said with a smirk.

She looked at his hand, and then at him.

“Alright then” she said while taking his hand, a small smile crept on her lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Micah took Elizabeth to his horse and helped her climb on it. He then mounted in front of her, and they left in direction of Horseshoe Overlook. Elizabeth was a bit tensed, she never really rode a horse before, so when the strong animal started to trot, she clung to Micah’s waist tightly. 

“What about my things at the hotel?” Elizabeth asked.

“Don’t worry for some dresses. The women at camp can lend you some before you can buy some new ones” Micah shrugged.

“I was not thinking about dresses...” she muttered to herself, but she did not want to seem like a capricious child.

Neither of them talked after that. She was tired and still a bit shocked by the previous events, and he was thinking. Thinking about how his body had acted on his own again when he saw her being dragged forcefully outside. How he could not contain his anger when he saw her on the floor, terrified of the man holding her. He did not know what was happening to him, but he did not like it one bit.

When they reached the camp a few minutes later, Micah helped Elizabeth get down of his horse. It was beginning to get dark, but she could still see peoples roaming around. When they heard the horse, some of them looked at their direction and were now looking at her with questioning looks.

“I’m gonna talk to Dutch and explain him your situation, you can sit somewhere if you want” Micah said.

Elizabeth started to realize that she was in a camp around a lot of unknown people, on her own, and she was not used to this at all. She was starting the feel anxious when Micah walked away, so she quickly followed him and grabbed his sleeve. He looked at her, a bit annoyed, but when he saw the look of distress on her face, he softened.

“Or you can come with me I guess” he shrugged. 

The both of them headed toward Dutch’s tent. He was sitting outside, reading a book.

“Boss” Micah said, making Dutch lift his head. He looked at Micah then at the woman with him, trying to identify the stranger. The man’s eyes widened when he remembered her.

“Miss Forcier am I right?” he said more than he asked. “It is good to see you again” He looked more closely at her and noticed her disheveled appearance. He looked at Micah with a raised eyebrow.

“She was in some kind of troubles with her father, was wondering if she can stay with us for a while” Micah said, trying not to sound too concerned.

“But of course! I did not forget what you did for us Miss. You are more than welcome to stay with us, as long as you wish to” Dutch said warmly. “I bet you must be hungry?”

“Thank you. Tired mostly” Elizabeth said quietly. The adrenaline from earlier had passed and she could barely keep her eyes opened. 

“Right, Mary-Beth my dear, please, come over here” Dutch called out one of the young lady who was sitting around a fire behind Dutch’s tent.

“Yes?” she had a soft voice and delicate features.

“This lady here, Miss Forcier, will be staying with us. Can you please found her something clean to wear and a place for the night? We’ll think of something more permanent in the morning” Dutch asked.

“She can use my tent for tonight, I’m on guard duty anyway” Micah added before nodding and leaving quickly toward the edge of the camp for his watch.

“Well, this solve one issue then. Ladies” Dutch said before bowing his head slightly and disappearing in his tent. He was surprised by Micah’s attitude, but at least it resolved a problem. 

“Come on, let’s find you something clean for the night” the pretty young lady told Elizabeth.

She stopped in front of a wagon and started to fumble inside. She pulled what seemed to be a simple blue dress and a black shirt.

“Those are clean member’s clothes. You can use them for tonight and tomorrow before you buy some others” Mary-Beth with a smile. “I’m Mary-Beth, by the way” she added.

“Elizabeth, thank you for the clothes” she answered with a timid smile.

“I can also help you clean the cut on your face” Mary-Beth proposed. Elizabeth simply nodded. Mary-Beth took her hand and led her to another wagon full of medical supplies. She cleaned the wound on Elizabeth’s lip and showed Micah’s tent. It was a bit further from the camp than the rest of the tent.

“If you need anything, just come find me. I’ll be sleeping over there” Mary-Beth showed her some wagons where other women were already sleeping.

“Thank you again, for everything. Good night” Elizabeth said.

“G’night!” Mary-Beth answered before heading toward her roll bed.

Elizabeth stepped into the tent. There was a small camp bed inside, with a chest and a chair. She felt a bit awkward to be in someone else tent, but she soon headed toward the bed as she could not keep her eyes open anymore.

The next morning, Micah was drinking a coffee near his tent. Dutch asked him to go check something in town and Micah wanted to change before heading out. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a scream and a thudding sound coming from his tent. He rushed inside to discover Elizabeth on the floor, panting, and a scared expression on her face. 

“You okay?” Micah asked his brows slightly furrowed.

“Yeah, just a bad dream” Elizabeth answered while slowly standing up. 

Micah wasn’t sure what to do. The poor girl was still shaking from her nightmare. He then noticed that she was only wearing a shirt, his shirt. He quickly glanced at her bare legs before looking away. Elizabeth noticed and realized how she was wearing very little. She tried to cover her legs a bit more, her sudden making Micah snapped out of his thoughts.

“You tore my shirt” he said blankly. It was really an excuse to distract him from the view in front of him.

Elizabeth looked at him a bit surprised, and then at the shirt. There was indeed a tear at the bottom front of the shirt. 

“Oh God! I’m so sorry!” she gasped. “It must have happened when I fell from the bed. B-but I can fix it as soon as I find needles and thread” Elizabeth added quickly, clearly feeling guilty to have damaged something borrowed. 

“Don’t bother” he said a bit harshly before turning around to get out of the tent, completely forgetting about wanting to change his clothes. At the moment, he needed some fresh air to clear his mind.

Elizabeth was left alone in the tent, feeling even guiltier as she though Micah was angry with her about the shirt. She let out a long sight before changing into the blue dress. It was simple but very pretty at the same time. She brushed out her hair with her fingers before taking a big breath and stepping outside.

The camp was clearly livelier than when she arrived. Some people were talking together while drinking coffee; others were carrying stuff around the camp. Elizabeth walked a bit, trying to spot Mary-Beth to thank her for yesterday and asking her for a needle and thread. But she got interrupted in her search by a gentle voice.

“You must be Miss Forcier?”

She looked at the man. He must have been in his fifty. He has grey hair and caring eyes. Elizabeth could not help the smile appearing on her lips.  
“Yes, but please call me Elizabeth” she answered politely.

“Hosea Matthews. Nice to meet you. Dutch told me that we had a new member. I hope you will like it among us. If you have any questions, or just want an attentive ear, you can come and find me”

“Nice meeting you too, Mister Matthews. Thank you” She smiled at him. This man truly had a fatherly aura, way more than her father ever had anyway.

“Ah! Elizabeth! “ she heard from behind her. She turned around and saw Mary-Beth who was running toward her.

“I’m glad I finally found you! Did you sleep well?” Mary-Beth asked with a smiling face.

“Yes thank you” Elizabeth answered. She did not see the point of mentioning her nightmare, as she was not comfortable enough to talk about it anyway. 

“Good. Dutch told me to explain to you the basics of the camp. Would you like some coffee first?”

“Sure, sounds good” Elizabeth accepted with a smile. She did not know this Mary-Beth a lot, but she already liked her a lot.

The two women headed toward the main campfire and Mary-Beth poured themselves two cups. She also introduced Elizabeth to the others persons who were around.

“So basically, our job with the other women is to do the chores around the camp. We wash the clothes, fix them if needed. We sometime help Pearson with the food.

We wash the dishes, feed the chicken, all those kind of little things that need to be done” Mary-Beth explained. “The men, they do the dirty job to bring back some money. But don’t worry, we have moral, a code. They don’t kill innocent folks just for fun. At least not all of them do”

“But some do?” Elizabeth asked a bit worried.

“You may have not noticed yet, but Micah is quite a wild one. The wildest one here. He’s done some terrible things” Mary-Beth told Elizabeth with a knowing look.

Elizabeth was surprised by what she heard. Sure she knew they were outlaws, but to hear that Micah, the man who saved her twice without having to, was a cruel man.

It was a bit hard to believe. He may not have been the gentler one, especially not this morning, but she damaged his shirt and took his tent, so she could not entirely blame him. Mary-Beth showed Elizabeth the camp before they both went to the river to do some cleaning.

“So, how was your life before?” Mary-Beth asked with interest.

“Well, nothing too special I guess. It was only me and my father. He never liked me. My mom died while giving birth to me, so I think he just sees me as the thing that took his wife away” Elizabeth said with a sigh.

“Oh I’m sorry” Mary-Beth gently took Elizabeth hand in hers and gently squeezed it.

“It’s alright. I don’t think I can complain neither. In his obsession for me to be the perfect wife, he allowed me to learn a lot of different things, and life was pretty decent until a few months ago”

“What happened then?”

“He just grew impatient I think. He wanted to get rid of me as quickly possible. He made me meet so many men, in the hope that one would took me as wife” Elizabeth said rolling her eyes. “But all were all so pretentious and boring” she chuckled.

“You did not find your prince charming yet” Mary-Beth said with a playful smile. The two women laughed while finishing their cleaning. They went back to camp, talking about one of the books Mary-Beth was reading. They met Miss Grimshaw, who gave Elizabeth a small old bedroll, telling her that for the time being she will have to do with it.

“We’re going into town this afternoon, gonna try to rob some drunk folks. Wanna come with us?” Mary-Beth asked.

“Uhm, maybe not this time, thanks. I have some small things to finish here. Thanks again for the needle and the thread” Elizabeth smiled awkwardly at the young woman. So robbing was also part of the women’s activities. 

“Sure! You can keep them!” Mary-Beth waved at her before heading toward the wagon where other women were waiting.

Elizabeth went to a quiet part of the camp and started her work.

***

While he was in town, Micah remembered Elizabeth talking about how they were staying at the hotel with her father. He saw in that a potential opportunity to find some valuable stuff in their room. When he was sure Elizabeth’s father was drunk in the saloon, he entered the hotel and asked nicely the hotel manager, with his gun, in which room they were staying. With his answer, he made a quick job to search the room. He found a picture of a woman. She looked a bit like Elizabeth. At the back was written: “Louise Forcier, 1874”. Micah looked at it for a while before putting it in his satchel. 

It was already late when Micah came back to camp. Most people had already retired for the night. He grabbed himself a bottle of beer before heading toward his tent. He went inside and noticed something on his bed. He took it and realized it was his black shirt, clean and fixed. He could not even find the stitches. He sighted before dropping the cloth and his beer and exiting the tent. He quickly looked around camp before he saw what he was looking for. Next to the scout fire was a little shivering form curled up near the flames on a small bedroll. Micah went looking into one of the wagons before approaching the sleeping girl. He slowly covered Elizabeth with the blanket he just found and left just next to her the picture he found earlier in the day. He looked at her for a while, before returning to his tent for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

When the morning came, Micah was grumpy. Very grumpy. He could not relax the whole night. The day before, he went to sell the things he found in Elizabeth’s father hotel room and he got a pretty sum for such a simple job. But could he really keep all the money to himself? It was still kind of thanks to Elizabeth that he knew about this room being unguarded. But Micah Bell, giving money he earned? He never heard of that. He shook that thought off his mind and quickly got dressed before going for some coffee at the main fire. 

Elizabeth was slowly waking up. Her eyes opened and she stretched her sore body. This is when she noticed the blanket covering her. It was thin, but still kept her rather warm during this chilly morning. She looked around her but no one was to be seen so she simply shrugged it for now and sat closer to the fire to warm her hands. During the process, her knee slightly touched something. She looked down to discover a picture. She took it and realized it was her mother’s picture, the one she wanted to get back from the hotel room. She brought it to her chest, and her eyes landed on Micah who was drinking some coffee with his brows furrowed. Even if he clearly looked angry, Elizabeth could not help the warm smile that appeared on her lips while looking at him. Surely he could not be as bad as people say.

She stood up, putting the picture in her pocket, and folded her bedroll. She tried to brush the tangles out of her hair, but she was clearly going to need a comb soon. She then headed toward the main fire as she saw Mary-Beth there. She said hello to everyone around the fire. They all responded friendly, except for Micah, who just looked away before finishing his coffee and leaving. Elizabeth did not think too much about it, she saw he was in a bad mood. She talked a bit with everyone before leaving to do some chores.

She fed the chicken and the horses and went to do some sewing. She was amazed by how often the men were able to put hole in their clothes. And the mud! She did not mind though, she knew they worked hard to bring back money, even if she did not really wish to know exactly how. And she was rather good at sewing so at least she was a bit useful.

She was now sitting at one of the table, reading a book she borrowed from Mary-Beth. 

“Micah! Lenny! Get over here!” she heard Dutch call out suddenly. The two men he called came to his tent.

“I need you to go to Strawberry, see if you can find some interesting lead” Dutch explained the two men.

And that is how Lenny and Micah left camp for a few days. During those days, nothing of great importance happened at camp. Everyone was busy with their own business.

***

One day, Elizabeth went to find Mary-Beth.

“Hey Mary-Beth. Do you have a moment right now?”

“Yes of course, what is it?” the young asked while putting her book down.

“You see, I was wondering if you could teach me a bit how to... you know... steal” Elizabeth said the last word in a murmur.

Mary-Beth looked at her with wild eyes, smile creeping on her face.

“It’ll be my pleasure. Please sit, I’m gonna explain you the basics” Mary-Beth said, as excited as a child.

They spend a great part of the day talking about technics, how to trick and steal people, mostly men as it was a bit easier. Mary-Beth also told her her own experiences, with the dos and don’ts. They laughed a lot, often moving away from the main subject. It was a pleasant afternoon. Mary-Beth concluded by saying that practice makes it perfect, and that Elizabeth could train herself on people around camp before really doing it on strangers. She also told her that she could speak to Hosea, as he was himself a con-artist, and a good one.

The next few days for Elizabeth were basically chores and trying her new skill on the peoples at camp. She started easy with Uncle after a few drink and went on to finish with Arthur, who was a bit trickier to fool but she succeeded. Hosea was proud of her.

“Now you only need to steal from Micah and that would be your final test” Hosea joked. They were both sitting at a table drinking some coffee when the heard a horse galloping into camp.

“They got Micah! Dutch” a clearly distressed Lenny shouted while climbing down his horse.

“What’s going on?” Dutch asked. Everyone was now looking at the men.

“They got Micah! He, he’s been arrested for murder. He was in Strawberry and...” Lenny said while moving his arm frantically in the air.

“It’s okay son, breath...” Dutch tried to calm Lenny. Arthur and Molly were with him, listening to the poor boy.

“They nearly lynched me. They... they got Micah in the sheriff’s in Strawberry... and there’s talk of hanging him” Lenny explained, still trying to catch his breath. Dutch was then trying to convince Arthur to go and rescue Micah, but Arthur seemed more than reticent at the idea.

Elizabeth looked at Hosea with a worried expression. He smile at her and took her hand.

“Don’t worry, Arthur’s gonna go help him” Hosea said as he squeezed Elizabeth’s hand.

She noticed during those days at the camp that people all seemed to not really like Micah. They all seemed more worried about Lenny’s absence than Micah’s. And now Arthur too, who was normally ready to help anyone. She was not sure why everyone except Dutch seemed to dislike him that much.

***

A few days passed since Arthur went to saved Micah. When they both came back to camp on a late afternoon, Elizabeth was down at the river cleaning some clothes with other girls. They came back to camp when it was getting to dark, talking and laughing. The moment Elizabeth saw the blond outlaw, sitting alone at the campfire, she stopped for a moment. “He’s back” she though. She excused herself and headed toward him. 

“Mind if I join you?” Elizabeth asked quietly. Micah only shrugged, not taking his eyes from the fire. Elizabeth sat beside him, not too close. She looked at him and saw his face, full of bruises and cuts, with still some dry blood.

“You should clean your wounds to avoid infection” Elizabeth said a bit hesitantly. No answer.

“Micah?” she said a bit louder.

“Why do you even care? I don’t need you pity!” Micah said harshly, still not looking at her.

Elizabeth was surprised by his question, and also by the anger behind his tone. She sighted discretely.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’ve already helped me so much. It’s only normal that I want to help you too” She said softly with a small smile.

Micah looked at her for the first time since he came back from Strawberry. He was confused, not used of people genuinely caring for him. And her smile. What did he do to deserve such a warm smile?

“Alright” he sighted, looking down at his lap.

Elizabeth’s smile grew a bit as she stood up quickly to go and gather some materials. She came back and kneeled in front of him.

“Can I?” she asked while raising her hands near Micah’s with hat. He simply nodded, still looking at his lap.

She took his hat of and put it on a crate next to them. She then took a piece of cloth that she dipped in water before carefully rubbing it on Micah’s face to remove any blood, dust or mud. Micah finally dared to look at her. She had a serious expression on her face, her brows slightly furrowed. She was also biting her lips a bit. Micah’s gaze stayed a few seconds on her pink lips.  
“It might sting a little” she said as she poured alcohol on a clean rag. Micah closed his eyes when Elizabeth patted the rag on his wound. When she was done, she cleaned her hand before putting everything aside. 

“You okay?” she asked.

“Sure. I have a sweet little nurse tending to my wound. What else could I asked for?” he said, a smirk appearing on his lips. Elizabeth blushed slightly at the remark, but also smiled. She was happy to hear Micah talk even if it was to make some silly comments. He looked a bit down, and she was happy she could put some kind of smile on his face.

“I’m going the go to sleep. You should too soon, you must be exhausted after all that” she stood up, squeezing his shoulder before nodding at him with her warm smile and heading toward her bedroll.

Micah looked at her as she walked away. He really wondered why she cared that much about him. He noticed that she was the kind of person to always help with a smile. But surely by now everyone would have told her to stay away from him, that he was a bad man and all that. He was a bit confused, but he has to admit that it was nice to have someone caring about him. He was convinced that it would not last long before she realized the man he truly was and would run away from him, so he might as well enjoyed it while he could.

The next morning, the weather was sunny and warm and Elizabeth woke up in a good mood. She started her day with some chores as per usual. She was feeding the chicken when Mary-Beth came to her.

“So, you think you’re ready for you last big practice?” she said with a playful smile while looking toward the horses. Elizabeth followed her gaze and saw Micah feeding his horse.

“Oh. Right. I almost forgot with everything that happened. Shouldn’t I wait that he’s drunk a bit?” Elizabeth said. She managed with the other men, but Micah a completely different level to her.

“No no no! I’m certain you can fool a sober Micah” Mary-Beth laughed while pushing Elizabeth toward the hitching post.

Elizabeth walked a bit reluctantly, looking back at her friend who smiled at her encouragingly. She let out a long sight before.

“Mister Bell, good morning” she started energetically. 

“You can call me Micah y’know” Micah said while looking at her, an eyebrow raised.

“Sure. Micah. Right.” She said awkwardly, avoiding looking at him in the eyes. God, why was it this difficult. It always seemed so easy with the other members. She had to think of something to distract him quickly. This was when she felt something nudging her arm. It was Micah’s horse trying to grab her attention.

“Oh hello there!” She said with a smile, scratching the horse’s head.

“What’s his name?” she asked Micah, still petting the horse on the neck.

“Baylock. He must like you, he’s not the friendliest horse normally” Micah said.

“You’re a handsome one Baylock, you know that?” Elizabeth said playfully, looking at the horse.

“Just like his owner” Micah added with a wink. Elizabeth looked at him with wide eyes before laughing. Baylock took the opportunity to give Elizabeth a push on the back, causing her to lose her balance and to almost fall in Micah’s arms. He caught her by her waist while she grabbed his shoulders.

“See, he can be sneaky when he want” Micah smirked, clearly not complaining about the situation.

“Just like his owner?” Elizabeth asked, a mischievous smile on her lips, still in Micah’s arms.

Micah laughed and looked down at her with a smile, a real one. They smiled at each other a moment before Baylock let out a happy neigh which made Micah looked at him for a bit.

“Yeah you think you’re funny right?” he said to his horse. He removed his hands from Elizabeth’s waist, and she also let her arms fall on her sides.

“I should go see Dutch, he wanted to speak to me” Micah said.

“Sure, see you later” Elizabeth said with a bright smile. Micah nodded before heading toward Dutch tent.

“You sure are a very good boy Baylock” Elizabeth said while petting the horse and giving him a few sugar cubes she kept in her pocket. She looked at the little purse in her hand, very proud of herself. The final practice was a success. 

During the afternoon, she noticed Micah fumbling into his tent. She headed toward him, a small smile on her face.

“Looking for something?” she asked innocently.

“What does it look like” Micah said while emptying the chest full of clothes. He looked a bit pissed, but what could you expect of someone who just noticed his purse was missing.

“Are you by any chance looking for this?” she asked again, presenting the purse in her raised hand.

Micah looked at her, then at her hand. 

“Where did you get that?” he asked, a bit of anger in his voice, as he stood up to face her.

“Let’s say I have been practicing a bit while you were locked in Strawberry” she said with a confident smile. Micah looked at her, the surprised overcame the anger he was feeling. He took the purse from her hand before looking back at her.

“When?” he simply asked.

“When we were talking near the horses. Baylock is to blame too, he helped me quite a bit” she said.

He stared at her, the anger completely gone, but the surprise still here. 

“I see” he said, a smirk appearing on his face.

“I’ll see you later. I’m gonna tell Hosea that I brilliantly passed my final test. No bad blood between us okay?” she said playfully, winking at Micah before exiting the tent.

“No bad blood” Micah said, more to himself, while looking at the young woman with a smile, a bit in disbelief. Now he was really interested.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days after Elizabeth’s final test, Hosea took her to Valentine for her real first job. He hitched the horse near the hotel and reminded her all the important things. They then headed toward the big saloon to work their magic. A moment later, they met near the horse.

“You did really good inside! I’m proud of you!” Hosea said while squeezing her shoulder in an affectionate way. 

“Thank you. You’re an amazing teacher I have to say” Elizabeth complimented Hosea while looking at what she stole. Her eyes widened when she counted the money, her smile getting even bigger.

“So if I understood correctly, half of this is for me, and the other half goes for the camp, right?” she asked Hosea while putting the money in her pocket.

“It’s your first one, kept it to buy yourself something nice, you deserved it” Hosea said with a wink. She smiled brightly as she told him to wait for her and ran in the general store before coming out with a bag. Hosea smiled at her before helping her climb on the horse.

Elizabeth was so excited. Sure, she was stealing, and on its own, it was a bad thing. But she finally felt a bit more useful, as she was really a part of the gang. When back at camp, she rushed toward Mary-Beth to tell her everything. She even showed her the new dress she bought with her first “pay”.

The next few days were the same. She went into town with Arthur most of the time, under the advice of Hosea. She felt a bit bad to bother him, but he assured her that it was alright. One day, Arthur had to leave to go help Javier and Charles rescue a member that has been captured after the Blackwater incident. Everyone was busy, so Dutch told her to go with Micah, who happened to be free. Hosea was against the idea, not trusting Micah one bit. But he did not have any alternative, as he was himself busy trying to find a buyer for the bonds they stole from Leviticus Cornwall’s train. But Elizabeth was rather happy to spend some time with Micah, who has also been rather busy this week. She was wearing the dress she bought the other day. A very simple, yet elegant lilac dress.

When they arrived in Valentine, Micah told Elizabeth that he has something to buy first.

“It’s alright, you go buy your stuff and I start in the saloon. I’ll be real carful” Elizabeth said confidently before heading toward the saloon. Micah just shrugged and entered the general store. 

It started as usual. Elizabeth spotted an easy target, alone at the bar. She approached him and started her show. Everything was fine until someone grabbed Elizabeth’s wrist. She looked at the person with wide eyes, and they grew even bigger when she recognized the man. Her father. He looked even worse than before, the alcohol clearly have made damages to the man.

“You’re not gonna get away this time. You stole me! All the money I had, you took it! Now you’re coming with me to the sheriff! You’re not my daughter no more, just a dirty thief! ” Elizabeth’s father said bitterly, still holding her wrist firmly. He pulled her outside toward the sheriff office. 

“Let go of me! I did not steal from you!” Elizabeth was panicking. She could not get rid of her father’s grip. And even if she was not guilty of what he was accusing her, she still had stolen money in her pocket from before. She tried to think of something, but nothing came. She was done for.

“Hey you!” 

Everything happened so fast. Someone rushed toward Elizabeth’s father, and next thing she knew, she was freed from his grip and her father was on the ground, being beaten up by none other than Micah. She looked at the scene speechless before her senses came back to her as he hand gently grabbed her.

“We better move from here before the law arrives.” Micah told her as he led her toward his horse. He stopped in front of his horse and turned back to look at Elizabeth.

“You alright sweetheart? He didn’t hurt you did he?” Micah gently asked as he pulled Elizabeth’s hair out of her face to look closely at her.

Elizabeth heart missed a beat when she heard the nickname. She looked at him a bit surprised before answering.

“N-no, I’m fine, thanks to you again” she blushed when she tried to look him in the eyes. She quickly looked at Baylock to distract herself from the heat in her cheeks.  
“Good. Let’s go back then” Micah helped her to climb on the horse.

During the trip back to camp, Elizabeth could not help the childish smile on her lips as she buried her face in Micah’s back. Micah also needed a lot of self-control in that instant to hide the small smile creeping on his face.

When back at camp, Elizabeth thanked Micah again, and went to join Mary-Beth and the other girls who were sitting near a wagon, sewing and mostly speaking. Micah took and beer and sat at a table a bit further.

“You back already?” Mary-Beth asked when she saw Elizabeth approaching. 

“Yeah, we ran into my father, things got a bit complicated. But Micah helped me out of it” Elizabeth briefly said as she shrugged and started to fix a torn shirt. She knew the girls did not like Micah so she did not want to talk about him with them.

The ladies talked for a while about this and that.

“And Mary-Beth, what about that little O’Driscoll of yours? I saw you two talking the other day” Karen asked with a smirk on her face.

“He ain’t an O’Driscoll! And he ain’t mine neither” Mary-Beth said, the last part a bit quieter. She was bright red by now. 

Elizabeth looked at her with a gently smile. She thought she was cute, blushing at the mention of Kieran. It was obvious that they were sweet on each other. Her eyes briefly landed on a certain blonde outlaw.

“And you Elizabeth? Did someone catch your attention?” Karen asked.

Elizabeth gaze came back on the girl. She was thinking about Micah just now. Her eyes always seemed to find him. She was not sure why. Sure she admired him. He saved her a few time, and is always gentle with her. But it was probably nothing more, just some attachment to the man who saved her. Right?

“Uhm... No, not really” Elizabeth answered hesitantly. 

“Come on! Not Javier, with his guitar and his suave accent?” Karen said with a wink.

“Or Arthur? He’s a bit older but I have to admit that he’s rather charming” Tilly added.

“How old is he anyway?” Mary-Beth asked.

“Arthur? I think he’s around 35 or 36” Tilly said.

“And Micah? Do you happen to know how old he is?” Elizabeth dared to ask timidly.

“I heard he’s around 39. Why?” Tilly asked.

“Just wondering” Elizabeth tried to dismiss.

The other just shrugged and started to talk about Karen and a certain Sean. Elizabeth thought she recognized the name as the man Arthur, Charles and Javier went to rescue. Elizabeth lost herself in thoughts again. So Micah was 39. He really must think of her as a hopeless child then. She looked in his direction, but she met his blue gaze, already staring at her. She quickly nodded at him as her cheeks turned pink before focusing on her sewing.

When she was done, she said goodbye and headed toward a rock near the edge of the cliff, a bit further from the noisy camp. She sat on the rock and opened her book. But she could not focus on her reading. Her mind kept thinking about Micah. She could not be attracted by him. He was nothing like the other men she met before. And he was way older than her too! But she could not help the sparkling feeling in her stomach when she saw him or thought about him. Especially after today, seeing him all angry and threatening as he beat the person who was menacing her, even if it was her own father. She has to admit that she felt something. She sighted as she closed her book. She closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of the descending sun. She then heard footsteps from behind her and something touching her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Micah, with two beers, sitting beside her on the rock.

“Tough day, right” Micah said as he opened one of the bottles and gave it to Elizabeth.

“Yeah. It didn’t go really smoothly. I never thought I would run into my father. I was sure he left long ago. Thanks for the drink.” Elizabeth said. She felt a bit down after today incident. She was so proud and wanted to show Micah what she learned and that she could do well on her own. But she only showed him that she was weak and could not defend herself against a drunkard. 

“Don’t worry about that. Job can go wrong, it’s not your fault. And at least I didn’t come for nothing” Micah tried to lightened the mood. He felt that Elizabeth was down and wanted to cheer her up.

“I guess” she simply said, a small smile appearing on her lips.

“I also heard Hosea and Morgan saying how you did real well during the week. They were proud of you” Micah added, looking at her, almost as if he was talking about his own feelings.

“Thank you Micah” Elizabeth said, averting her eyes when she felt her cheeks turn pink again.

“Welcome in our world” Micah suddenly said as he raised his bottle in front of Elizabeth, smirk on his face. 

She looked at him with a bright smile before raising her bottle and carefully tapping her bottle against Micah’s. They drank together silently before Elizabeth asked.

“What are you doing during your jobs actually? I never really asked”

Micah looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“You sure you wanna know?” he asked with a smirk.

“Yeah” Elizabeth said as she turned toward the man.

Micah started to tell her about his job. After a while, she cut him.

“Yeah, never mind, might be a bit too much for me” Elizabeth said with a little grimace. 

Micah laughed at her face, he found it rather cute, not that he would admit it out loud.

“But really, you must think I’m ridiculous to have been scared earlier when you face much more dangerous situation almost every days” Elizabeth said with a sad smile, her feeling of uselessness coming back to her.

“Not one bit. I mean, you risked a lot when you told me about your father’s stones. And it also took courage to give up your life to start a new one with strangers. And now, just a few weeks after you joined us, you’re already pulling your weight way more than most of the girls. I never thought of you as weak” Micah said while scratching the back of his neck. He was being really honest here, and it made him a bit uncomfortable. 

“Really?” Elizabeth said as she looked at him surprised. She never saw it that way.

“Sure. And you can’t really compare yourself with me. I was born in this life. I was stealing since I was 8 and had a gun by 12” Micah said like it was no big deal, but Elizabeth was still impressed.

“Born as an outlaw” she giggled, the alcohol clearly starting to affect her. Micah softly laughed. Was it because of her attempt to a pun or because of how sweet she looked when giggling, that he did not know.

They kept drinking in a comfortable silence.

“Might sound weird but, I thought you were real cool back there, like a badass prince charming on his black horse” she giggled, looking at the sky with dreamy eyes. She really started to be tipsy.

“I ain’t no prince charming” Micah said seriously, looking at his empty bottle.

“That is not yours to decide” she said looking at him with a soft smile, her tone more serious than before.

Micah looked at her with a blank expression, before a small smirk formed on his face.

“Then that makes you a princess?” he said in a flirty way.

“But of course I’m a princess” she said as she laughed.

The sight of Elizabeth laughing so freely in front of the setting sun in her lilac dress was the most beautiful thing Micah has ever seen. He looked at her as long as he could before she stood up from the rock, stretching her body.

“I think the princess needs to eat something and get her beauty sleep now. Good night Micah” Elizabeth said as she leaned toward him and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek. Micah completely froze and could only look at her heading happily toward the stew pot.

When he regained his senses, he looked at the horizon. He remembered the empty and sad look she had in her eyes when he saw her in Valentine the first time after Blackwater. Now she seemed like a totally different person, full of life and laughing. Despite his doubts, maybe he has been right to have bought her back to camp with him that day.

***

The next two days were pretty calm. Elizabeth did some chores around camp and chatted with some people. At the end of the second days, Arthur, Charles and Javier came back with Sean. And after a very passionate speech from Sean, a party started. Elizabeth was around the fire, finally meeting Sean. Javier was playing the guitar and everyone was having fun.

Elizabeth spotted Micah, sitting at a table with Bill, or what was left of him after way too many drinks. He must have sense he was being watched because he looked up to meet Elizabeth’s gaze. She sent him her brightest smile, to which he responded with a nod and his usual smirk. 

A bit later, Dutch turned on his gramophone, which allowed Javier to take a break. He was now seating beside Elizabeth, talking while playing mindlessly with his guitar. Micah looked at them, an annoyed expression on his face. It got worse when Javier came closer, putting his guitar on Elizabeth laps, while keeping his arm around her shoulder to keep her close while he showed her how to place her hands. She had a small smile on her face and her cheeks went pink. Micah looked at them a few seconds before standing up with an angry huff, grabbing a bottle of whisky, and then disappearing between the trees.

Elizabeth, who noticed Micah disappearance, apologized to Javier before leaving in direction of the trees. She looked for Micah before she heard some noises just ahead. She slowly walked toward it and saw a grumpy Micah, mumbling to himself, trampling branches.

“What are you doing here on your own?” she asked softly while getting closer.

Micah looked up a bit startled, before going back to his trampling.

“I’m a bit tired of the noise, you wanna sit with me for a while” Elizabeth then asked.

This time, Micah stopped. He hesitated for a moment before sitting against a trunk with his whisky bottle. Elizabeth smiled and came to sit next to him. 

“Want some?” Micah asked after he took a sip, raising the bottle.

“Sure, thanks” Elizabeth answered before taking the bottle. She drunk a little bit, but it was way stronger than she expected. She coughed a bit before giving the bottle back to Micah.

“Ha! Too strong for you, sweetheart?” Micah laughed before drinking again, his mood having already improved.

“Definitely! I don’t know how you can drink that” she joked as she looked at him. He looked in front of him and only smiled. He seemed more relaxed than before which made Elizabeth’s smile grew bigger.

“Micah?” Elizabeth asked.

“Mmh?” 

“How did you meet the gang? I don’t think you’re one of the lost souls saved by Dutch” Elizabeth said, looking at him, waiting for an answer.

“And you’re right” he laughed. “I met Dutch a few months before we met in Blackwater. We were at Crenshaw Hill. Dutch wanted to sell some gold they had stolen, but things got bad and I saved his life. He proposed me a place in his gang and I accepted it” Micah explained.

“What a hero! Dutch, then me multiple times” Elizabeth laughed softly.

“Old Micah is always here to save the day” Micah added dramatically with a wink.

They talked a bit more before Micah started to fall asleep against the tree.

“Time for bed now” Elizabeth said as she stood up. Micah grumbled a bit when she tried to pull him up bay his arm.

“Come on! You’re not gonna sleep here, are you?” Elizabeth said, smiling at his stubbornness. 

Micah finally stood up, putting an arm around Elizabeth shoulder to keep his balance. She tried her best to guide him to his tent. She helped him sit on his bed, and removed his boots and his jacket before pushing him to lie down. Micah mumbled something before falling asleep. She sat on his bed, looking at him with a gentle smile. 

“Seems like I can also help you in my own way” she said to herself, caressing Micah’s cheek delicately with her hand. She could swear she felt him lean in her touch. She stood up and also went to bed, her smile never leaving her face until she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up rather early. Everyone was still asleep, and will probably be for a few more hours, as they went to sleep quite late. Elizabeth took this chance to enjoy a calm morning. She poured herself a cup of coffee and went to drink it at the edge of the cliff, admiring the scenery in front of her. The air was a bit chilly, she was glad she took a shawl with her, but the rising sun warmed her face in the most comforting way. She stood there a moment before hearing noises from the camp. Someone has woken up. She turned around and saw Micah coming out of his tent, his hat very low on his head to hide his eyes from the sun. Without noticing Elizabeth, he sat near the fire, back to Elizabeth, and held his head in his hands. She smiled at the sight, before discreetly heading toward the coffee pot. She poured a new cup and walked slowly toward Micah.

“Here, look like you need some” Elizabeth said quietly with a soft smile, giving the cup full of warm coffee to Micah.

He took it, a bit startled as he did not know someone was awake yet.

“Thanks” he mumbled before sipping some coffee.

They stayed silent while Micah was drinking his coffee, just enjoying each other’s company. Micah glanced a few time at Elizabeth, and when their eyes met, she smiled at him with such gentleness that Micah felt his stomach twist.

The camp slowly started to get livelier as people were waking up.

“Well. Time to work” Elizabeth said as she stood up. She then started to clean up the camp by picking up the empty bottles.

Micah stared at her a moment before he stood up and walked toward Baylock. He fed the horse an apple and mounted him. He really needed some fresh air.  
It was not until the beginning of the afternoon that most people started to recover from their hangover. Elizabeth has finished her chores and was now eating with Mary-Beth at one of the table when Charles approached them.

“Ladies” he said with a nod. The two girls answered with a smile.

“I’m going out looking for some plants to make remedies. Would you join me? I could teach you some things.” Charles asked Elizabeth.

“Really? With pleasure then!” Elizabeth answered, excited to learn new things and to spend some time with the man. She did not know him well but she could tell he was someone wise and collected, so spending some time with him will surely be relaxing. 

“Great. Meet me at the horse when you’re ready” he said with a small smile before saying goodbye to Mary-Beth.

“With all the cleaning you did this morning, you certainly deserved a break” Mary-Beth said.

“Yes, I can’t wait to get out of camp too” Elizabeth laughed. 

She finished her food and put her plate in the dish basin before meeting Charles.

“Ready?” he asked.

“More than ready” she answered with an excited smile.

Charles helped her on his horse and the left camp. They spend a great part of the afternoon looking for different kinds of plants. Charles explained to Elizabeth all their different virtues and uses.

Micah had been back for an hour when he saw Charles and Elizabeth arriving. Elizabeth thanked Charles again and they parted. He wondered what they have been doing but the thought flew away when Elizabeth noticed him and walked toward him with a smile.

“Good day?” she asked as she sat down next to him.

“Sure. Yours?” he hoped she would tell him what she was doing with Charles, but he tried not to sound too interested. 

“Real great! Charles took me out to pick some plants for the camp, taught me lot of thing! It’s been a while since I came out of camp” Elizabeth said as she sat at the table. Micah could hear the excitement in her voice, and he felt a little pinch in his heart. 

“You can ask me next time you wanna go out of camp” Micah mumbled, looking at his knife he was sharpening. He insisted on the “me” without realizing it.  
“You’re not too busy?” Elizabeth was surprised by what Micah said, but she could barely hide her happiness. She would love to spend more time with Micah, but the man always seemed so busy she never dared to ask him.

“You can still ask” he shrugged, trying to look unconcerned.

“I definitely will then!” she said with a big smile. Micah looked at her, and when he saw her face, so happy and joyful, he could not hold back the little smile the appeared on the corner of his lips. He tried to hide it by looking down at his knife. But Elizabeth noticed it, which made her own smile grew even bigger.  
They stayed like that, Micah sharpening his knife and Elizabeth looking around and enjoying the calm afternoon.

“Micah?” Elizabeth asked.

“Mmh” he simply hummed.

“Tell me a story” she said as she looked at him.

He stopped and looked at her confused, his brows furrowed.

“Just one of your adventures, without too many graphic details” she explained.

“One of my adventures?” Micah put down his knife and scratched his chin, searching for something interesting. He felt flattered that Elizabeth showed that much interest in him. 

“Yeah, okay, so it was before Blackwater. I was roaming around Strawberry and I saw a poster for a bounty. Good pay, did not seem hard, so I took it. I did a bit a research and learned the man was staying in a little cabin north the town. I rode there and saw the cabin. As I got closer, Baylock started to get agitated. I just climbed down and just walked. Then I opened the door and was welcomed by a bear. A gigantic one, mouth wide opened. I just had the time to raise my guns and shoot it a few time before it collapsed on the floor. After that, I noticed the man I was looking for, also dead under the bear. I knew I would not receive any money for the bounty, so I just took what was valuable in the cabin and left” Micah said.

“You killed a bear!” Elizabeth said, clearly impressed.

“It was nothing, more like some kind of reflex” Micah said, trying to hide the little blush appearing on his cheeks with the brim of his hat.  
“Tell me another one!” Elizabeth asked eagerly, leaning more toward Micah as she looked at him with great interest.

“Eh, alright, let’s see” Micah started, a little smirk now on his lips. He would not admit it out loud, but he was glad to be able to talk to someone who genuinely seemed interested. In general, people in camp would only listen to him with one hear, or not at all.

Micah started a new story, Elizabeth listening to him with great attention, when Charles approached them.

“Here Elizabeth. That’s the notes I told you about earlier” Charles said while giving Elizabeth a small a small notebook. It contained a lot remedy and ointment recipe.  
“Oh thank you Charles. I’ll read it and give it back to you quickly” Elizabeth said with a polite smile, way less bright than the one she had when she was listening to Micah.

“No need, you can keep it. If you want, we can go back someday, I can show other interesting places to pick herbs” Charles added. 

Elizabeth did not have the time to answer that Micah stood up a little abruptly and left without a word.

“Uhm, yeah why not. Thanks again for the notes!” Elizabeth said, surprised by Micah’s sudden departure. 

Charles nodded before leaving her. She looked at the notes with her eyebrows furrowed, wondering why Micah left. She then stood up and headed in the direction she last saw Micah. She came out of the camp and walked down a hill. She reached a burned town and saw the river. She approached slowly and noticed Micah, smoking a cigarette while looking at the water.

“There you are! You did not even finish you story before” she said lightly as she stopped beside him.

“Not interesting. Ain’t worth your time” Micah mumbled, looking at his feet as he walked on his finished cigarette.

“I found it very interesting” she said with a soft smile, looking at him from under his hat. He finally looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

“I’d like to know the rest of the story” she added as she took his hand and led him toward a big tree.

Micah looked at their hands, but did not do anything to reject the contact. She sat against the trunk, pulling Micah’s hand to make him sit next to her.

“Can I know the end of the story” Elizabeth asked softly.

Micah only shrugged and mumbled something. Elizabeth smiled.

“Please” she said with puppy eyes as she gently pulled on his sleeve.

Micah looked down at her. How was he supposed to resist at such a sweet face. He could not stop the small smile on his lips as he looked in front of him.

“I guess, if you want” he sighted but his face was still slightly smiling. 

Elizabeth face lightened up as she heard him. She came a bit closer as Micah resumed his story where he left it. After a moment, Elizabeth head fell on Micah’s shoulder. He froze at the sudden contact, stopping in his story-telling. Elizabeth smiled discreetly at his reaction.

“And what happened next” she encouraged him after she was sure he would not reject her.

Micah cleared his throat before continuing his story. He was glad she could not see the blush on his cheeks. When he was done, Elizabeth still had her head on his shoulder and Micah was now more relaxed than before.

“You’re good at telling stories” she said quietly as she closed her eyes. 

“If you say so” Micah simply added, not really used to being complimented.

They stayed like that a few more minutes before Micah cleared his throat again.

“We probably should go back to camp, it getting dark” he said.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and indeed, the sun was setting.

“Oh, you right” she said, but she made no attempt at getting up. 

Micah chuckled at her behavior before he stood up, without much will, and presented his hand in front of Elizabeth, who looked very annoyed to have lost her pillow.

“Here” he said.

The gesture made a smile regained Elizabeth’s face as she took his hand. He helped her on her feet and let go of her hand. But Elizabeth seemed to have other plan as she quickly took his arm and held into it, pressing him to walk with her in direction of the camp. Micah laughed a bit but complied with it. He quite liked to have her at his arm like that.

When they reached camp, Elizabeth, still holding Micah’s arm, looked at him.

“Thanks for the stories. It was really amusing. I hope you’ll tell me more sometimes” she said. She then got up on her toes and gave Micah a soft kiss on the cheek. Micah looked at her as she left toward the main fire, a small content smile on his face. She was driving him crazy, but he started to like it.

***

A few days later, everything was calm at camp as most of the men were in Valentine for some kind of business. Micah was sitting at a table, sharpening his knife, when his attention got caught by Elizabeth feeding and petting Baylock. He was still impressed by how he was friendly with her, him being a rather sneaky horse usually. He looked at them when an idea came to his mind. He stood up and walked toward the duo.

“Hey Micah!” Elizabeth said when she saw the man.

“Having fun there?” he said, petting Baylock on the neck.

“Oh yeah. Baylock is such a sweet horse” she said, smiling at the horse as she gave him a cube of sugar.

“How about I teach you how to ride one?” Micah proposed very proud of his idea.

“A horse?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes widening.

Micah paused a second, wondering if she realized what she was saying. But when he saw at her clueless expression, he knew she was just being very naïve.  
“Yeah, a horse” he simply answered, trying to hide his amusement. 

“Uhm... Yeah sure, why not” Elizabeth said hesitantly. She was always happy to spend time with Micah. And she loved Baylock. But to ride a horse, on her own, that was something completely new to her, and a bit scary.

Micah sensed she was not very confident.

“Come on, it’ll be fine. Baylock likes you, he won’t unseat you. That’s already a good start” Micah joked as he lifted her onto the horse.

They rode to reach a wide meadow. Micah helped Elizabeth to climb down and started to explain the basic. She listened very attentively, not wanting to miss an important part that could save her life. Yes. She was that scared. When he was done with the theory, Micah told her it was time for the practice.

“You want me to climb Baylock alone!? But what if I do something wrong, or can’t control him?” Elizabeth said, a bit of panic in her voice.

Micah thought for a moment.

“I can climb behind you. Like that I can still help you if you need. Sounds good?” he proposed.

“Sounds perfect yeah” Elizabeth answered, feeling a bit relieved.

Micah mounted first and moved back from the saddle. He then helped Elizabeth up and explained to her how to put properly her feet in the stirrups. He then showed her how to hold the reins, placing his hands on top of hers. This was when Elizabeth truly realized how close he was, she could feel the warmth coming from him on her back and his breath in her neck when he talked. She tried to dismiss it and concentrate on her task. How to ride a horse. 

Walking and trotting was alright. She was a bit nervous at first but soon relaxed. But when the horse started to run, that was another story. Her all body tensed, fighting not to fall. Micah noticed and put one of his hands on her tight while the other one was on her waist to hold her on the horse, and himself.  
“Use your legs to stay straight. You can squeeze them to be more secured on your saddle.” He said as he leaned toward her. Now she could definitely feel his chest pressed against her back, as he has to come closer to be heard. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, even more when she realized she did not dislike this proximity with Micah, quite the opposite. 

They rode a bit more, until Elizabeth felt more confident and relax.

“You did great” Micah complimented her as he climbed down to let Elizabeth slide back on the horse.

“That was certainly something.” Elizabeth said with a little laugh as Micah climbed back in front of her this time

“You’ll see, with more practice, it’s gonna be easier.” Micah tried to reassure her.

“If you say so” Elizabeth said, not too optimistic about being able to ride on her own any time soon.

When they got back to camp, they quickly noticed something was wrong. There was actually no more camp, everything had been packed up in the wagons, ready for the road.

“What is going on here?” Elizabeth asked.

Micah did not have the time to say a thing before Miss Grimshaw appeared In front of them.

“Ah! Miss Forcier and Mister Bell! We took the liberty to pack your things while you were absent. As you can see, we’re a bit in a hurry.” She quickly said before leaving, as suddenly as she appeared.

Both of them were confused. They climbed down the horse and Micah rushed toward Dutch.

“Ah Micah! Miss Forcier! We were worried we had to leave first without you two” Dutch said. He seemed very agitated.

“Leave? Where? Why?” Elizabeth asked. She also started to fell anxious with all the agitation in the camp.

“We had some problems in town. Cornwall found us and we made lot of noise. And with the Pinkerton around, we better leave and quick” Dutch explained, mostly to Micah as Elizabeth did not know the names he mentioned. 

“Miss Forcier, you can ride with the women in the wagon” Dutch added, showing her a wagon. He then left toward another wagon.

“Is it always like this when you have to move?” Elizabeth asked, still a bit worried about all the rush.

“Lately, yeah” Micah said as he looked at her. He could see she was anxious. “But you don’t need to worry, it’s gonna be okay” he gently said as he put his hand on her lower back in a comforting way and led her toward the wagon.

They stopped in front of the wagon and Elizabeth took a moment to look at the now empty camp. She will miss it. Micah raised his hand to help her get on the wagon. She took it but instead looked at him in the eyes.

“Thanks for today. I would love if you could teach me more sometime” she said with the softest smile as she gently squeezed his hand with hers.

Micah simply nodded, something sparkling in his eyes. Elizabeth looked at him for a few seconds before climbing in the wagon with the other girls. She waved at Micah as he headed toward Baylock. During the trip, they both thought about their interaction in front of the wagon. It was as if they were in their own bubble, without all the rush and the stress of their surroundings. They both felt something, they were just not sure what it was yet.

What was certain now was that the Van der Linde gang has now started its new journey, going further east, and closer to civilization. A new chapter was beginning.


	7. Chapter 7

On their way East, Elizabeth thought about those last few weeks. A lot had happened, a lot of changes too. But she was happier than she has been for months. It was thanks to the all gang, who took her in and taught her new things. But she also felt it was mostly thanks to Micah. Their meeting back in Blackwater, and then again in Valentine, it must have been fate. She always felt different toward Micah. She enjoyed spending time with the other members, she had a lot of fun with them too, but it was simply different with Micah. She could not quite explain why or how, she just knew there was something more.

As she thought of him, her eyes landed on Micah’s back. He was riding a bit ahead, talking to Dutch. Yeah, definitely there was something more.

***

When they finally arrived, they were welcomed by Arthur and Charles, who led them to a nice little opening in the forest, by Flat Iron Lake. It was a bit warmer than the Heartland, which was a great change.

Ordered by Miss Grimshaw, everyone got to work to build the tents and arrange the camp. Everything was completed by the late afternoon. Everyone was lazing around, feeling quite tired after this hectic day. 

Micah was sitting at a table near the lake with Bill, both of them drinking a beer. Micah looked at the lake and saw Elizabeth, removing her shoes and entering the lake as she held her skirt just above her knees. She simply walked in the water, enjoying the cool water against her skin with a smile. He looked at her a moment before Bill’s voice interrupted him.

“She’s a sweet thing ain’t she?” he asked.

Micha simply hummed, his eyes not leaving her soft form. Bill understood that he will not get more answer from Micah and left to find some other company. As Micah looked at her, he thought about his feelings. It was clear to him that she was different than the other girls he met. Normally he would already have made some rude comment, or heavily flirt with her, because that is how he act with women. But with her, something was different. He did not want her to think of him as a creepy pervert or whatever. He wanted to get closer to her ever since he saw her at this party in Blackwater, but he thought that he will never see her again. He has been shocked when he saw her in Valentine. He knew that it was his chance to do something. And now that he got to know her some more, it was even clearer. She was truly a sweet thing, always smiling and being polite, even toward him. There was really something more with her.

Elizabeth felt that someone was looking at her. When she turned around and realized it was Micah, she gave him her brightest smile. He could not prevent his own smile to appear.

“Come here Micah! The water feels so good!” Elizabeth called Micah, waving her hand in the air.

Micah shook his head, his smile still on his lips. Did she even realize the effect she had on him? Probably not. He stood up and headed toward the lake.

“You like the place?” he asked as he lit up a cigarette.

“Definitely! I was so sad to leave the last one, but now I almost forgot about it already.” Elizabeth laughed.

“Glad to hear it then” Micah answered. He saw that she was sad to leave Horseshoe Overlook, so he was more than happy to see her smile now.

“Get out of the water now, the sun’s setting, you’re gonna get cold” Micah then said as he raised his hand to Elizabeth. She looked at him quickly before taking his hand and looking down to hide her pink cheeks.

“My! Such a gentleman Mister Bell” she said quietly as they both walked toward the camp.

“I wouldn’t go that far” Micah laughed. “Hungry?” he then asked her.

“Starving” she answered.

“I’m gonna go fetch us some food, I’ll be right back” Micah said before heading toward the stew pot.

Elizabeth sat at the table and held her still warm cheeks in her hands. She could not believe that a few hours ago she was being anxious about having to leave for a new place. And now she was going to eat with Micah in front of a lake. She has already had worst dates than that. The thought of a date with Micah made her cheeks red again. Sure it was not a date, but she would not be against the idea. Maybe one day...

Micah took her out of her dream when he came back with two plates. They ate while talking about unimportant things. When they were done, Micah went to grab two beers, and they talked some more until Javier started to play some guitar.

“Let’s go listen to Javier’s music. It’s so pretty” Elizabeth said as she stood up and grabbed Micah’s hand.

Micah was not a fan of music, much less Javier’s music, but Elizabeth looked so excited that he did not have the heart to refuse. And the fact she was holding his hand was a great help too. They both approached the main fire and Elizabeth let go of Micah’s hand as she sat on a trunk. Micah sat beside her with a small sight. Elizabeth listened to the music for a moment with a smile. 

Micah was mostly bored. He was thinking about leaving when he felt Elizabeth got closer to him, their shoulders and arms now touching. He looked at her and saw she was staring at her laps, her cheeks tinted with a blush. A smirk appeared on his lips as he relaxed. He might as well stay a bit longer.

***

A few days passed and the gang had already found new leads. The men have been mingling with two families, supposedly sitting on lots of gold. They were most of the time out of camp, and the girls were bored like never. They wanted to get into town, see if they could play their little tricks, but no one was available to accompany them.

“Please Dutch, we’re all going insane, being stuck here. We’re just gonna look for some leads, we won’t do nothing risky for now but please let us out!” Karen almost begged Dutch.

“She’s gone crazy or what?” Micah asked Elizabeth who was waiting a bit further. He heard the commotion and was always ready for some drama.

“No, but that might be the case soon. We’ve been locked in the camp since we arrived, and none of you can take us out” Elizabeth explained. She was not mad, she understood the men had a lot of things to take care of, but she would love to get some fresh air.

“Alright! Alright! We are gonna leave soon, but Kieran can take you I guess” Dutch gave in. Even if Kieran was a fairly new addition to the gang, he gained Dutch’s trust as he saved Arthur’s life, and is a hard-working boy. 

“You sure about that boss? The O’Driscoll can barely even protect himself!” Micah intervened. He did not like Dutch’s choice.

“Not now son. The girls will just take a look, nothing dangerous is gonna happened. It’s just a stroll, the boy can handle it” Dutch cut short the debate. He was already exhausted by Karen’s shouting, he did not need another blonde one arguing with him.

Micah turned toward Elizabeth, who already looked excited about all that. Way too excited for Micah’s liking.

“You’ll be carful alright? It’s not the same as the drunkards in Valentine” Micah told her.

Elizabeth looked at him a bit surprised. Was it worries in his eyes?

“I’m a big girl Mister Bell, no need to worry” she teased him with a smirk.

“I’m not worried for you! I just don’t want you all to create trouble in town, that’s all” Micah answered quickly, looking everywhere but her.

“Sure. Well, see you later!” Elizabeth told him with a pat on the shoulder before heading toward the wagon. All the girls and Kieran were already on board.

“Come on Micah! We must leave!” Dutch called Micah, who was watching the wagon disappear behind the trees.

***

Everyone was back at camp at the end of the afternoon, except for Kieran and the girls. It was a quiet late afternoon, people were just lazing around. But the calm was soon interrupted by the loud sound of a wagon. It was Kieran and the girls.

“Dutch! Dutch! They took her! They took her with them! We couldn’t do anything!” Mary-Beth shouted as she ran toward Dutch’s tent.

Dutch stood up from his chair, looking at Mary-Beth with a confused expression. Micah heard the shouting and came closer to know what was going on.

“Calm down first” Dutch told Mary-Beth, holding her gently by her shoulders. “Now, who was taken by who?” he asked.

“Elizabeth, by the Lemoyne Raiders” she said in one breath. 

When he heard that, Micah saw red. He ran toward Kieran and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“IT WAS YOUR JOB TO PROTECT HER! WHERE WERE YOU??” Micah roared.

The poor boy was livid, terrified by the man in front of him, and feeling guilty about the situation.

“I... I was at the wagon. They... they told me to stay there, that they would be quick... I’m sorry...” Kieran stammered.

“You fucking useless O’Discroll!” Micah pushed Kieran on the floor. Mary-Beth rushed toward him to help him stand up.

“I saw them heading north of the town” Tilly quickly added.

“Yeah, I think they have camp near Eris Field. Might have run into it the other day” Arthur added.

“Then what are we waiting for?!” Micah shouted, already rushing toward his horse.

Arthur, Javier and Bill all nodded and mounted their horses quickly to follow with Micah who has already left the camp.

He knew it was not a good idea, that he should have went with her in town. But Dutch gave him this stupid mission to do, and said that she would be safe with the O’Driscoll. Bullshit. He would not forgive himself if something serious happened to Elizabeth. He was the one who brought her to this life, he was responsible in some  
sort. Or was it something else?

He slowed down when he reached Ringneck Creek, the other men joining him just a few minutes after. Micah was observing a little camp with his binocular. 

“Do you see her?” Bill asked as he stood beside Micah.

“No. Maybe in one of the tent” Micah would have liked to see Elizabeth to be sure they were at the good place.

“Who cares, let’s go” he finally said before taking out his two guns and heading toward the camp. The others, a bit hesitant, followed him anyway. 

Elizabeth was in the dark. She had a blindfold, and her hands were tied. Everything happened so fast. She saw this man with a beautiful golden watch, he looked alone, so she taught she could quickly fool him. But turned out he was not alone. When she finally got the watch in hand, another man caught her arm and showed she was stealing. Then the men lead her by force to their horse. She tried to scream, to call for help. She just had time to see Tilly further away before she got hit on the head. 

When she was all tied up in the tent, she heard the men talking about selling her to some man on a boat for a pretty amount of money. This could only be bad news for her.

Suddenly, she heard gunshots from everywhere. She was scared and very vulnerable at the moment. She hoped it was the gang, but how to be sure. She just crawled in a ball, hoping no lost bullet would hit her.

As quick as it started, everything was calm again. She heard familiar voices outside and tried to move to show them where she was. The canvas of the tent opened, she saw some light through her blindfold and stopped moving. She tensed a bit when she felt someone rushed toward her and, very gently, removed her blindfold. She felt immensely relieved when she saw Micah in front of her, great concerned in his eyes.

“You came” she said quietly, her throat being rather dry.

“Course I did” Micah answered softly as he cut the rope around her wrists. He then took her hands in his and carefully caressed the red marks on her wrists with his thumbs.

“I’m sorry, should have come with you” he muttered, his head low, staring at their hands.

Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief before slowly removing her hands from his to put them on each side of his face and make him look at her. She has one of her soft smile on her face.

“What are you apologizing for? You’re here and I’m fine. That’s all that matters” Elizabeth said.

Micah sighed and so slightly leaned in her touch. He was going to add something when Arthur called out.

“You found her?”

“Yeah, she’s in here” Micah answered, disappointed to have to cut short to this moment.

“You can stand?” he asked Elizabeth as he stood up and gave her his hand.

“Yes, thanks” she smiled as she took his hand.

On their way back, Elizabeth explained to Micah and the others what happened.

“Yeah, I heard about those boats they send to some islands, to work there. Boats full of slaves” Javier said with a dark tone. It was really bad business.

When they came back to camp, it was dark already and everyone has retreated for the night. 

“Your wrists, it hurts?” Micah asked Elizabeth as he helped her down his horse.

“It’s a bit sensitive, yeah” Elizabeth answered as she rubbed them slightly.

“Sit, I’ll be right back” he told her before heading toward the medicine wagon.

Elizabeth sat near the fire. She was glad to be back here. Micah joined her and sat crouched in front of her.

“Gimme your hand” he asked. She complied and he applied an ointment on her wound. He massaged it softly before wrapping her wrist with a bandage. 

She looked at him in silence. His brows were furrowed, but she could tell it was not entirely due to concentration.

“You okay?” she murmured, tilting her head.

Micah stopped a moment before looking at her with a blank expression. He then shook his head and stared down at her second wrist.

“I should be the one asking that. That was careless what you did in Rhode. I told you it was different than Valentine” he said, a bit of anger in his voice as he finished bandaging her second wrist.

“But you came to rescue me, just like the prince charming you are” Elizabeth tried to lighten the atmosphere. 

“I ain’t joking here Elizabeth! There are really dangerous people out here! If something had happened to you, I...” he started, but got interrupted by two hands holding his face gently.

“But nothing happened. I’m fine, thanks to you” Elizabeth said gently to try to calm him.

Micah melted in her touch and her soft smile. They looked at each other with a lot of tenderness, the only noise coming from the burning fire.

“You should get some sleep, must be exhausted after all that” Micah finally said as he broke the eye contact and stood up.

“Yeah, I should” Elizabeth said quietly as she watched Micah walked away. 

“Micah?” she called him.

“Mmh?” he looked at her.

“Thanks, my prince” she winked at him before turning her back to him and heading toward her bed.

Micah chuckled to himself, shaking his head a little. Yeah. Definitely, he was screwed. 

Elizabeth lay down in her bedroll, a huge smile on her face, as she fell asleep thinking about a certain blonde outlaw.


	8. Chapter 8

The next few days, Elizabeth stayed at the camp. She had been asked to come in town by the girls a few times, but, somehow, she always had some chores to finish. Karen and Tilly just shrugged it off, not thinking much about it. Mary-Beth knew Elizabeth better and understood that Elizabeth probably did not want to go back in Rhodes just yet. She also believed that if she needed to talk, she would come to her, that it was better to leave her alone for now.

But the days quickly turned into a week, and Elizabeth was starting to get bored to stay at camp, and frustrated to still fear to go back into town. One afternoon, she sighted heavily as she sat on a crate near the scout fire. A bit further into camp, Micah was looking at her irritated face. He had noticed her reluctance to go out of camp. At first he was rather happy with it, it meant she would stay safe. But lately he also noticed she looked more bored, almost sad. So he got an idea to cheer her up. 

“You busy?” Micah asked Elizabeth as he walked toward her.

“Terribly” she said sarcastically, not looking at him.

“That’s too bad. I had a bit of free times and I thought we could use the afternoon to do some horse riding” Micah said with a fake hurt tone, a smirk appearing on his lips when he saw Elizabeth’s head suddenly rose, her eyes already sparkling with excitement. 

“Really?” she almost shouted.

“Yeah, but if you’re busy then I guess I’ll just...” he started but quickly got interrupted by Elizabeth grabbing his arm and dragging him toward Baylock.

“Just shut up and let’s go” Elizabeth laughed, almost running to reach the hitching post.

***

Those practices became a regular thing between Elizabeth and Micah. She made a lot of progress, and now the trainings were more like an afternoon stroll. Elizabeth borrowed one of the camp’s spare horses and they rode for hours together. Neither of them talked about the fact that Elizabeth did not need any more lessons and was now perfectly capable of riding on her own. It was just an excuse for them to spend time together.

***

One day, after one of their stroll, Micah invited Elizabeth to drink something, to celebrate her progress. She agreed and they ended in Rhodes’ saloon. Micah bought two beers and took them to the table where Elizabeth was sat. 

“It was a long road, but you can now ride a horse. You did it” Micah said as he raised his bottle.

“We did it. I wouldn’t have done it without you” Elizabeth added before clicking her bottle with Micah’s.

“To us then” Micah said, looking at Elizabeth straight on the eyes.

“To us” she repeated supporting his gaze, a smile smirk on her face. 

They drank their beers while talking about this and that. Elizabeth asked Micah to tell her other stories about his job. She grew more tolerant to the graphic details by now. She loved listening to him talking about his adventure with a lot of passion. And in return, he also loved how she listened to him with such interest, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

When they both finished their drinks, Micah offered to go buy others, but Elizabeth was quicker to stand up, saying that this round was on her. Micah was a bit taken aback, but accepted the offer. He looked at her as she walked toward the bar, and then back at his empty bottle, smirking to himself. He really liked spending time with Elizabeth, it was never boring.

When she came back with two bottles of beer, Micah noticed the suspiciously big smile on her face. He looked at her quizzically as she sat down next to him. She looked at him with a confident smirk.

“Tonight, we celebrate!” she said proudly as she put down the bottles and took out of her pocket a bundle of money.

Micah looked at her with a surprised expression, but it quickly turned into a proud one. He knew she was scared after what happened. This was why he tried to cheer her up with horse riding. But he was glad that she was starting to regain her confidence again. He knew she was good at fooling people and that she enjoyed it.

“My, my, my Miss Forcier” Micah said with a smirk, taking his bottle and clicking it with hers.

And from here, they drank. A lot. And they laughed a lot too. Micah was telling a story about how he had to defend himself against a crazy working-girl, who was actually a serial killer. Elizabeth was laughing so hard. Micah just looked at her, feeling a warm sensation in his chest as he looked at her so happy, knowing that he was the cause to her happiness right now. Him, and the booze.

“I always knew you could find some weird things in this kind of place” Elizabeth said shaking her head.

“You can’t even imagine, trust me” Micah added with a wink, making Elizabeth laugh again.

She looked at him for a moment, before her face became a bit more serious.

“You never thought about... I don’t know, finding someone? Could avoid you this kind of mishap” Elizabeth said quietly.

Micah looked at her silently, his smile also fading a little.

“Don’t know. Until now I never felt that way for someone. And with the kind of life I lead...” Micah answered with a shrug before drinking his beer.

“And what about you? You really didn’t meet any guys well enough amongst all those your father presented you?” Micah added with a smirk.

“Well, they were not all bad. But they were all kind of boring you know? Most of them only talked about themselves, about their families’ richness. It was really just empty conversations. And they all expected me to be just pretty and quiet. So yeah, really it was mostly endless monologue from boasting brats” Elizabeth explained while playing with her bottle.

“So you never had a man?” Micah asked as he looked at her with shining eyes, a playful smirk on his lips.

Elizabeth looked at him, a bit clueless at first, but then her eyes widened as she understood what he asked and her cheeks turned pink.

“O-of course I have! I met a ranch boy when I was younger. He was very nice. We saw each other a few times before he had to move out of town” she said, looking only at her hands as she felt her cheeks burning. 

“A ranch boy uh? Did he take you to his barn to show you his shovel?” Micah asked with a wink.

Elizabeth jaw dropped and her cheeks got bright red.

“Mister Bell! That’s enough I think!” she said, faking indignation before bursting of laughter. Micah laughed with her before offering another round of beers.

Then they drank some more and were now giggling like children after they saw a drunk man fall from his chair.

“We should get going, it’s getting late” Micah said as he clumsily stood up.

“No way I let you ride a horse in that state” Elizabeth answered as she grabbed his arm to prevent him from going outside. She saw how quickly Micah was emptying his bottles, and thought it might be smart not to get wasted like him.

“Just stay here, I gonna rent a room for the night” Elizabeth said as she sat Micah back on his chair.

“Miss Forcier, I didn’t know you were like that” Micah said flirtatiously.

Elizabeth chuckled and shook her head before heading toward the bar. She asked for two rooms, but only one was available. She paid the barkeeper and waited for him to bring her the key. This is when a clearly drunk man approached her.

“Renting a room? How about I keep you company” the man said, leaning against the bar in front of her.

“I don’t think so, no” Elizabeth answered as she turned her back to the man. The barkeeper came back to give her the key. 

“Come on, those rooms are pretty chilly, I can keep you warm” the man grabbed Elizabeth by her shoulder to make her face him.

She let out a surprised gasp wanting to say something, but before any sounds could come out of her mouth, the man was violently pushed to the side by an angry looking Micah. 

“Sorry buddy, but she’s mine. So back off!” Micah said before putting his arm around Elizabeth shoulder and leading them toward the room.

Elizabeth searched for the room, not even trying to hide the blush and the smile on her face. She knew Micah was drunk, but to hear him say she was his still made her chest fluttered. Micah was sill muttering things, probably insults aimed at the drunkard. 

When inside the room, Elizabeth guided Micah, who was now heavily leaning against her, toward the bed. She sat him down and took his hat off before turning her back to him to put the hat on the dresser. Micah leaned back on his hand as he looked at her, feeling all his previous anger leaving his body. A small smile crept on his face when she faced him again.

“What is it?” Elizabeth asked, her hands on her hips as she looked at him with a soft smile.

“You’re the best one” Micah said cheerfully, looking at her with adoring eyes. 

“Is that so?” Elizabeth chuckled as she kneeled in front of him to remove his boots.

“Yeah. You’re smart, you learn quick. You’re also starting to hold you liquor pretty well” Micah started.

“Ha! I have to hold my liquor with you!” Elizabeth laughed as she stood up to put Micah’s boots further.

“You’re real brave too. A lot of things happened to you, but you never gave up. You’re a strong one” he continued as she sat on the bed next to him to remove his coat.

“You think?” she said with a small smile, her eyes staying on her hands as she grabbed the lapel of his coat.

“Yeah. I also think you’re damn beautiful” he added with a side smile, looking at her with such intensity as he leaned closer to her.

This made Elizabeth look at him, holding her breath when she noticed Micah’s eyes dropping to her lips. She felt his hands land on hers, still on the lapel of his coat. He started to rub small circles on the back of her hands with his thumbs. Elizabeth closed her eyes as she let out a quiet sigh. When she opened her eyes again, she offered Micah a soft smile before standing up from the bed.

“You should sleep now” she said gently as she walked in front of the mirror.

Micah dragged himself more into the bed and kept his gaze on her. He looked at her in awe as she undid her braid, carefully brushing her long brown hair with her fingers.

“Yeah... Beautiful” Micah murmured to himself, but Elizabeth could still hear him. She looked at him through the mirror, still smiling at him.

“Sleep now” she whispered. 

When she was done with her hair, Micah was sound asleep. She smiled as she approached the bed and looked at him for a while. It was a rare sight to see his face this relaxed, she wanted to enjoy it. She carefully sat on the bed beside him and lay on her side, in front of him. 

“Good night Micah” she whispered as she closed her eyes, thinking that she enjoyed the feeling of having him sleeping next to her.

The next morning, Micah woke up confused and lost. He was not sure where he was or how he ended up here. He had his head buried in Elizabeth’s hair, and he was holding her in his arms. At first, he did not dare to move, not wanting to wake her up. He then felt Elizabeth moving, getting herself more comfortable and moving closer to him, as she sighted with contentment. He looked at her a bit surprised. But he also really liked to have her in his arms like this. He could get used to wake up with her by his side. As Elizabeth did not show any sign of waking up any time soon, he took the chance to get comfortable, and fell asleep in her hair again. 

A few hours later, it was Elizabeth’s turn to wake up. She sat on the bed, rubbing her eyes. The movement woke up Micah, who grumbled a bit.

“You slept well?” Elizabeth asked as she stood up, brushing her hair quickly with her hand. She offered him such a bright smile that his mood lighten instantly.

“Yeah, you?” Micah said as he sat on the bed, his head pounding a little.

“Very well actually” she cheerfully answered as she put her shoes on.

“I have a few things I wanted to buy. Meet me at the horses when you’re ready” she added before disappearing behind the door.

Micah stayed there, sitting on the bed, slowly remembering what happened last night. He held his face in his hand.

“Fuck” he said as he stood up and got dress quickly before exiting the saloon and rushing toward the horses.

He waited a bit, feeding Baylock, before Elizabeth met him. 

“What have you done with your jacket?” Elizabeth laughed as she reached for the buttons of his jacket.

In his rush, Micah had missed a button without realizing it. Elizabeth undid them as she smiled softly.

“You’re not mad about yesterday?” Micah asked quietly, not looking at her.

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” Elizabeth asked, confused about his question.

“Don’t know. I was quite drunk last night. I just hope I haven’t been rude to you or anything” Micah said quickly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, I paid a room and let you sleep on the bed. I think if I were mad at you, I would have just let you sleep outside right?” Elizabeth joked as she finished to fix is jacket.

“Right” Micah said, finally looking at her.

“Yeah, everything’s fine, don’t worry” she said with a smile as she playfully tapped his chest.

“Now come, we really have to go back to camp” Elizabeth added as she mounted her horse.

The ride back was quiet. Both of them were thinking about last night. Elizabeth was far from mad. On the contrary, she would love to spend more times like this with Micah, she really loved it. It was the same for Micah, he appreciated to wake up with Elizabeth in his arms and he would love it to happen again. 

But neither of them dared to think too much about it. It was a special occasion, due to special circumstances. It would probably never happen again. Right?

***

Back at camp, Elizabeth thanked Micah for the day before, saying she really had a lot a fun with him.

“Don’t mention it, it was my pleasure” Micah answered before heading toward Dutch’s tent as he was supposed to talk with him today.

Elizabeth found Mary-Beth and headed toward her, taking a damaged clothe to sew it.

“So? Where have been all afternoon and all night with Mister Bell” Mary-Beth with an inquisitive look.

“We did a horse ride the afternoon. Micah has been teaching me how to ride a horse. And after that we went to drink in Rhodes. Drank too much to go back to camp, so we rented a room for the night” Elizabeth shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

“Only one room?” Mary-Beth as she gently tapped Elizabeth’s knee with her own.

“There was only one available” Elizabeth replied, starting to smile as well.

“Sure” Mary-Beth said as she did not believed her. 

They laughed a bit before Mary-Beth asked a bit more seriously.

“So... What do you think of him?” 

“Of who?” Elizabeth asked, not looking up from her sewing.

“Of Micah of course!” Mary-Beth whispered, rolling her eyes. 

“Oh... Uhm, well” Elizabeth stuttered, her cheeks quickly turning red.

“I knew you it! You like him right?” Mary-Beth said in an excited whisper.

“What?! No! I... I don’t know...” Elizabeth looked at Mary-Beth with wide eyes as she put down her work. “I mean, yeah, I enjoy his company, he’s funny. And he always has been nice to me” she added as she looked down at her knees. Deep down, she somehow knew she saw Micah as something more than a friend, but to admit it out   
loud to someone was something else. It made it more real.

“You like him” Mary-Beth repeated with a knowing look, but this time more seriously than before.

“Yeah, I might like him” Elizabeth sighed.

“Then why do you look so defeated?” Mary-Beth asked, her brows furrowed.

“Because it will never lead to anything. I’m mean, he must think of me as a child who couldn’t even ride a horse and who get kidnap. I feel so silly compared to him...”

“Well, no one can compare to Micah Bell that’s for sur. He is something else. But from what I know, he must not think of you as silly. I mean, he isn’t the type of person to offer help to other, but he offered you to join the gang, and he took the time to teach you how to ride a horse. You may not have noticed, but he isn’t exactly the friendliest person around here” Mary-Beth said, trying to comfort Elizabeth.

“Maybe you right. Last night he said I was brave. But he was drunk and he says a lot of thing when he’s drunk” Elizabeth said.

“Tell me. What else did he say?” Mary-Beth asked.

Elizabeth told her the whole things. The compliments, the saving from another drunkard, and the moment they had together after he told her she was beautiful.

“Just to be sure, we’re still talking about Micah Bell right?” Mary-Beth asked, more than confused.

“Yes, obviously. A drunk Micah Bell” Elizabeth answered, not seeing why her friend asked her that.

“And after what I told you and all this, you don’t believe he could be interested in you?” Mary-Beth asked cautiously. 

“Uhm... I don’t know. Maybe?” Elizabeth answered.

“How can you be this clueless?! Of course he has to be interested to act all nice and sweet with you!” Mary-Beth said, not believing how naïve her friend was.

“You think?” Elizabeth asked.

“YES!” Mary-Beth almost shouted, before laughing “Well, I leave you to it then, I still have some cleaning to do. See you” Mary-Beth squeezed Elizabeth’s shoulder before leaving her in her thoughts. 

So Micah might actually be interested in her. As she thought about it, holding her knees close to her chest and placing her chin on her knees, a smile appeared on her face without her noticing. A certain blonde outlaw was also observing her with a little smile as he came out of Dutch’s tent.


	9. Chapter 9

Elizabeth was sitting on the grass, in front of the lake, reading a book from Mary-Beth’s collection. She felt like reading some cheesy romances to relax after the few hectic days the gang had. The men have been busy stealing horses from the Braithwaite, setting the Gray’s fields on fire, and Arthur has been seriously injured during a supposedly peaceful meeting with Colm O’Driscoll. But now everything was calm again. Elizabeth even got the money to buy herself her own tent. They spent an afternoon building and decorating it with the other girls.

During those days, Elizabeth did not see Micah much, but she kept thinking about Mary-Beth’s words. She knew now that she had some feeling for Micah. Was it love of just a great attachment, that she was not sure but it did not matter to her. She wanted to get closer to him, to know if maybe he felt the same.

“What’re you reading?” Micah asked as he leaned against the tree under which Elizabeth was sitting.

She looked up at him, a bit surprised to see him just when she was thinking about him.

“Just a silly romance” she answered with a smile as she closed the book.

Micah faked a disgusted expression, which made Elizabeth laugh.

“How can you read that, it’s just plain dumb” Micah asked as he lit up a cigarette.

“Maybe, but at least it empties my mind and relaxes me” she shrugged.

“If you say so” Micah said, not very convinced.

“What do you do then when you want to relax and forget about you problems?” Elizabeth asked, turning her body to face the man.

“I drink” Micah said with a proud smile.

“Come on! Be serious for a bit” Elizabeth chuckled as she gently hit Micah’s leg.

“I’m serious though. But I guess I also find an isolated place to shoot some bottles” he answered, looking at the water.

“Mmh, sounds fun” Elizabeth replied.

“It is. You should try one day” Micah added as he looked at her.

“But I never used a gun” Elizabeth looked at her laps, feeling a bit ashamed not to know how to use a gun as it was a basic competence in the gang.

“I can teach you. We can go tomorrow if you want, this afternoon we have to meet some Grays in town, about a job” Micah said, trying to look not as excited as he felt.

“It’s a deal then!” Elizabeth agreed, overjoyed to finally be able to spend some time with Micah.

“It’s a deal. See you” Micah winked at her as he left toward his horse.

Elizabeth could not contain her smile and her excitement. This was a good day.

***

Later in the afternoon, the gang heard horses approaching. Elizabeth looked up from her sewing and noticed only three horses instead of four, and the pitiful state of the riders. Something went wrong. She and other members approached and saw poor Sean on the back of Bill’s horse, dead. All understood without a word. Reverend Swanson stood toward Bill, and they both left toward the forest. Arthur rushed silently toward his tent. 

Elizabeth looked at Micah, hoping to get some answers. But Micah quickly broke their eyes contact to look at the floor. She slowly took his hand and gently guided him inside her tent. He let her without a word.

“Sit on the bed, I’ll tend to your wounds” Elizabeth said flatly.

Micah removed his coat and his hat and sat on the bed while she was gathering supplies. She cleaned his face as he looked at her. He hated to see her like this. Sad, her eyes, usually sparkling, empty. She took his hand were a long gash was bleeding.

“I don’t think you’ll need stiches” she said with a trembling voice as she cleaned and bandaged his hand.

When she was done, she kept his hand in hers for a moment. Micah could only see the top of her head, but he noticed she was trembling and understood she was crying.

“I’m sorry” he whispered as he hung his head low.

“What are you apologizing for?” Elizabeth asked as she raised her head to look at him.

“I don’t know. For Sean. I know you were close” Micah answered a bit awkwardly.

“It’s not your fault Micah” she sighted “I... I must be a horrible person, but I’m just really glad it was not you. I don’t know what I would have done if it was you...” she started to cry again.

Micah took her in his arms, holding her close to his chest. She clung at him as she silently sobbed.

“I’m not going anywhere, I promise” Micah gently said as he rubbed her back in a comforting way.

They stayed like this for a moment. The sun was now completely set and it was dark in the tent. Micah was still holding Elizabeth in his arms. He realized she was sleeping when he felt her constant breathing. He carefully laid her down on her bed, gently caressing her cheek as he pulled her hair off her face. As he stood up to leave, he felt something tugging at his sleeve.

“I’m really glad it was not you” Elizabeth said sleepily, her eyes still closed.

“Me too sweetheart. Me too” Micah said quietly as he bent down and kissed her forehead.

Elizabeth hummed at the contact and fell back to sleep as Micah regained his tent, his head and his heart all messed up.

The next day, the gang was very quiet. Everyone was still in shock after Sean’s death. Karen particularly was not doing great. She has been drunk since before lunch and kept rambling about Sean being an idiot for getting killed. But everyone knew it was only to hide her grief, and when she fell, crying and screaming Sean’s name, everyone was there to help her and soothe her.

Elizabeth just got out of Karen’s tent after managing to calm her and make her sleep. She was exhausted and depressed by the global mood in the camp. She sat on a bench with a tired sight, rubbing her neck.

“Here, look like you need it” Micah said timidly, imitating her when he had a hangover. 

“Thanks Micah” she offered him a warm smile as she accepted the cup of coffee he was presenting her.

“Look, I know it might not be the right time, but if you want some fresh air, we can still go shoot some bottles. Might do you some good” Micah said hesitantly, not wanting to sound too insensitive.

Elizabeth looked at him, and then at the cup she was holding. She thought for a moment. 

“Yeah, that might be a good idea” she said as she smiled at Micah.

“Finish your coffee. I’m gonna gather some bottles” Micah said as he stood up with a lot of energy.

Elizabeth looked at him frantically rummaging in different wagons as she sipped her coffee. When she was done, she put the cup in the dish basin and went to meet Micah, who was putting the empty bottles in his saddlebag. 

“Ready?” he asked.

“Almost, just need to prepare a horse to ride” Elizabeth answered.

“No need! Baylock missed you, he’ll be happy to have you on his back” Micah said as he secured the bag.

“Oh, really, Baylock missed me?” Elizabeth laughed softly, as Micah helped her on the horse’s back.

“Sure” Micah mumbled, glad to be in front of her so that she will not see the slight blush on his cheeks.

He really enjoyed having her on his horse, so he was glad she accepted. The ride was pleasant, they talked and laughed together until they reached Dewberry Creek.

“There’s an old mill here. We can put some bottles around” Micah said as he helped Elizabeth to climb down.

Micah arranged a few bottles on the mill’s structure and walked away with Elizabeth.

“So what you have to remember is to be strong in your arms, and don’t be too tensed” Micah explained as he took one of his gun out. 

“This doesn’t make any sense” Elizabeth said as she looked at him with a confused expression, yet she was still smiling. 

“Of course it does! Come here” Micah said gruffly.

He positioned Elizabeth in front of the mill and gave her his gun.

“Hold it well, with your two hands and your arms straight” Micah told her as he stood behind her, adjusting her aim.

Elizabeth was a bit tensed due to Micah’s proximity, his hands on her arms and his chest on her back.

“Don’t be so tensed. You also have to expect the recoil when you shoot” Micah said as his hands traveled up on Elizabeth’s arms until they reached her elbows, which he bend slightly.

“Alright. This should be good. You can pull the trigger now” Micah said as he took a few steps back.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and shoot as she closed her eyes. No bottles moved.

“At least you touched the mill” Micah laughed as he came closer.

“Yeah... That was not brilliant” Elizabeth joked as well “But it was my first shoot too!”

“True. Ready to try again?” Micah asked as he prepared the gun.

“Definitely! I want to touch a bottle” Elizabeth said, the adrenaline rushing to her brain.  
Micah gave her the gun and stepped back again. This time Elizabeth managed to touch a bottle. Micah was watching her, enjoying the sight of Elizabeth using his beloved gun. In her excitement, she shoot a few more times, touching another few bottles, before turning toward Micah with a bright smile.  
“You saw that!! That was amazing!” she said loudly as Micah joined her.

“Yeah, you did real well” Micah congratulated her. “How about we go to the lake to drink something?” he quickly asked as he holstered his gun.

“Sure, but do we have something to drink?” Elizabeth replied a bit confused.

“You really thought I only took empty bottles?” Micah said with a smirk.

She laughed and they walked down the dried creek toward the lake. Micah took out two beers from the saddlebag and gave one to Elizabeth as they sat on the grass.

“To you, the new outlaw-to-be” Micah said as he raised his bottle.

“And to you, my so amazing teacher” Elizabeth clicked her bottle with Micah’s.

They drank their beers as they made little conversations. When she was done, Elizabeth removed her shoes and went in the water, walking around and making waves. Micah looked at her, lost in his thoughts.

“What are you thinking about” Elizabeth asked softly.

Her voice brought him out of his trance, and he quickly looked away.

“N’thing” he mumbled.

“Come on! Tell me!” Elizabeth asked again, looking at Micah with puppy’s eyes.

He glanced at her before turning his head to the side.

“Just thinking that you’re pretty” he said quietly.

This took Elizabeth off guard, and made her cheeks bright red.

“Oh. Thank you” she said as she tried to calm the heat on her face.

They stayed silent for a moment, Elizabeth still wading in the water. Suddenly, she looked at the man with a playful shine in her eyes.

“Say Micah, would you mind helping me out of the water? It’s a bit slippery here” Elizabeth asked innocently, her hand outstretched in his direction.

Micah looked at her a bit surprised, but quickly walked to the water’s edge. He made a few steps in the shallow water before gently taking Elizabeth’s hand. But he did not expect her to pull him in deeper waters. He stumbled, the water now reaching above his knees.

“Really?” he asked with an annoyed expression. The only response he got was a splash of water from Elizabeth, who was laughing at his shocked face. 

From this began a real water battle. Both Elizabeth and Micah were now drenched and laughing like children. Elizabeth jumped on Micah, making him fall backward. She was now half lying on him, one hand on his chest, the other on his shoulder as Micah was holding her on her waist. They stayed like that while regaining their   
breaths, smiling at each other.

“Well, that was fun too” Elizabeth laughed as she straightened up her position a bit.

Micah only looked at her in awe, removing a strand of wet hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Elizabeth, feeling her cheeky getting a bit hot, bowed her head in hope to hide it. But Micah gently took her chin in his fingers and lifted her head up again. She bit her lower lip, trying not to smile too hard. The movement attracted Micah gaze, and he leaned slightly toward Elizabeth. His hand went up from her chin to cup her cheeks as his lips slightly brushed against hers. Elizabeth closed her eyes, enjoying the soft touch, before leaning more toward Micah and properly responding to the kiss.

The kiss was slow and gentle. Elizabeth’s hands went around Micah’s neck as she got closer. His hand was affectionately squeezing her waist, also wanting her closer to him.

Micah was the one to break the kiss. 

“We should get out of the water while there’s still some sun if we wanna dry” Micah said quietly.

“You’re right” Elizabeth answered, her cheeks still pink. She stood up and offered her hand to Micah with a soft smile. He took it and they sat on the grass in the sun, side by side.

They enjoyed the warmth. Micah had his eyes closed and was leaning on his hands. Elizabeth was looking at him, a candid smile on her face. He kissed her! She was so happy at the moment. But her smile faded as she remembered the day before and Sean’s death. Her brows furrowed as she felt a wave of guilt invade her.

She looked at her hand when she felt something brushing against it.

“You okay?” Micah asked as he gently squeezed her hand, making her looked up at him.

“Yes. Thank you for today. It really did me good” Elizabeth answered as her smile came back on her lips.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and they stayed like that a few more minutes, until they were mostly dry.

They rode back to camp when the sun was starting to set. Elizabeth thanked him again with her softest smile before they parted way. Micah went to grab a beer, passing beside Javier, who was glaring at him.

“What is it now, Greaser?” Micah asked as he opened his beer.

“What were you doing with her?” Javier said lowly.

“Nothing that concerns you” Micah answered with a smirk. He winked at Javier before drinking from his beer and leaving toward his tent.

“Hijo de puta” Javier mumbled, still glaring at him.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth went to see how Karen was doing. She met Tilly who told her that Karen was sleeping after having drunk the all day. She thanked her and went to eat something, joining other peoples around the fire. The mood was lighter than in the morning. Some people were even joking and laughing.

Later in the evening, Elizabeth spotted Micah roaming around the edge of the camp. She quickly said good night to the people around her and trotted happily toward the blond man.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” Elizabeth asked timidly. 

“No. What do you have in mind” Micah asked, looking at her with interest.

“I was wondering if you could teach me more about shooting a gun? If it’s okay with you of course” Elizabeth asked, hesitant. She did not want him to think of her as to clingy.

“Sure, sounds good” he said, a smirk appearing on his lips.

“Great, see you tomorrow then” she replied with a bright smile.

Micah simply nodded. But instead of turning around, Elizabeth stepped closer, looking at her feet. Micah looked down at her with an amused expression. Then she gently grabbed his hand and raised herself on her toes as she planted a quick kiss on Micah lips.

“Good night” she said before turning toward her tent and walking quickly, a huge smile on her face.

Micah looked as she left, his eyebrow raised as he shook his head. He really found her endearing when she was acting all shy around him. He could not wait to be tomorrow, it will surely be interesting.


	10. Chapter 10

Elizabeth woke up rather early the next morning. She was excited to go shooting with Micah and could not sleep very well in consequence. She grabbed herself a cup of coffee and sat at the campfire where Javier was mindlessly playing with his guitar.

“Good morning” Elizabeth said as she sat in front of him.

“Morning, slept well?” Javier asked with a smile as he put down his guitar.

“Fairly well, thanks. You?” Elizabeth asked politely. 

“Not too good. But to be able to see you, hermosa, first thing in the morning, it makes it all better” Javier answered with shiny eyes.

Elizabeth only chuckled slightly, not too sure how to answer.

“You know, with everything that happened, if you need to talk, or just some company, I’m here for you” Javier added more quietly, a serious expression on his face.

“Thanks Javier” Elizabeth smiled at him as she finished her coffee.

“We can even go fishing today, to get out of here” Javier proposed as he sat a bit closer to Elizabeth.

“Uhm, well, today is...” She started but got interrupted by a voice behind her.

“Elizabeth! I have a few things to care of this morning. It’s alright if we go a bit later?” Micah asked as he came closer, his eyes focused on Elizabeth, completely ignoring Javier.

“Sure, I have some chores to do as well” Elizabeth agreed, a smile on her face.

“Later then” Micah nodded before heading toward his horse.

Elizabeth looked at him as he left, an adoring smile on her face. Javier looked at her with his brows furrowed.

“Where are you going with Micah?” Javier asked, trying not to sound too inquisitive, but deeply wanting to know.

“He’s gonna teach me how to shoot properly” Elizabeth answered, her gaze landing on Javier again.

“Micah? Teaching you?” Javier repeated, even more confused.

“Yeah, he’s a great teacher” Elizabeth said. “Well, I’m gonna start my work, see you later Javier!” she said happily as she stood up and waved him good bye.

“If you say so” Javier mumbled, not convinced, only nodding at her.

Javier noticed that Elizabeth spend a lot of time with Micah, but he simply could not understand why. She was such a nice person, always ready to help, always polite and smiling. A very lovely lady. All those aspects made him quite interested in her. But to see her with Micah, he could only be worry the man was just playing with her. But again, she seemed to enjoy spending time with Micah, which did not please Javier.

After a rather busy morning, Elizabeth and Mary-Beth were eating together on a trunk, a bit further from the agitation of the camp.

“He kissed you?!” Mary-Beth almost screamed.

“SSShhh!!” Elizabeth ushered her with panicked eyes. She quickly checked that no one had heard.

“Finally! How was it? How did he confess?” Mary-Beth could barely hold her excitement.

“Well, he didn’t confess anything, he just kissed me. And it’s fine by me” Elizabeth said, looking at her friend with a fond smile. Mary-Beth really likes romance.

“But you like him right? Don’t you wanna know if he feels the same?” Mary-Beth looked at Elizabeth, a bit of confusion in her eyes.

“Yes, I like him. But I also like what we have now. And he kissed me, so it might mean that he cares a little don’t you think? And you know Micah, he’s not really the type to just confess his feelings” Elizabeth explained.

“Yeah, probably. But I can’t say that I know Micah too well. No one does here, except you” Mary-Beth pointed out with an amused smile.

“Oh right” Elizabeth said before laughing with Mary-Beth.

“I might not like the man, but I truly hope everything will work out how you want it to” Mary-Beth said seriously to her friend.

“Me too” Elizabeth sighed with a smile.

Just at this moment, they saw Micah riding into the camp. He jumped down and scanned the camp. When he saw Elizabeth, he directly headed toward her.

“Ladies” he greeted with a nod “You ready to go?” he then asked Elizabeth.

“I am” she answered with a bright before standing up and saying good bye to her friend.

They walked to Baylock and rode out of camp together.

“Are we going back to the same spot as last time?” Elizabeth asked.

“Nope, I found an interesting tree a bit further in the Heartlands with lots of bottles tied to it. The perfect place to practice your shooting” Micah answered, actually very proud of his recent discovery.

When they arrived, Micah explained her more in details how to use a gun and how to reload it. She then try to shoot some bottles, but only touched 3. When she hit the last one, something shone as it fell on the ground. Micah approached the place where it fell. He took the small thing in his finger and realized it was a golden nugget. 

“You fucking luck charm” Micah chuckled as he showed the nugget to Elizabeth.

Her eyes widened when she realized what it was.

“Is that a magical tree?” Elizabeth laughed as she came closer to Micah to look at the little yellow rock.

“You’re reading the kid’s dumb books now?” Micah asked with an amused smirk.

Elizabeth simply laughed as she gently slapped his arm. 

“Come on, I deserved a break now” she chuckled as she led him to sit on the grass.

Micah sat beside her and looked at her as she lay down on her back, her eyes closed and a content sigh escaping her smiling lips. He lit up a cigarette and lost himself in his thoughts. Since yesterday, Micah has been conflicted. He kissed her out of the blue and she did not reject him. He has been surprised at first, but now he was... hopeful?? He already knew he kind of cared about her, he would not have asked her to join the gang otherwise. But lately he wondered if there was something more.

“Do you regret it? Abandoning your life and your dad to come with us?” Micah asked.

“Why do you ask that suddenly?” Elizabeth sat up as she looked at Micah with a confused expression.

“Don’t know. Just wondering if meeting me might kinda have ruined your life” Micah quickly chuckled, but there was no amusement in his laugh. 

“Micah, I don’t remember being this happy for years. Before I met you, I was living by my father’s standards, trying my best to please him. But now, I just feel free, and alive in a way, like I’m finally truly living. And all of that is thanks to you, Micah Bell” she said as she faced him, looking at him in the eyes and holding one of his hand in hers.

Micah could only look at her, her warm smile and her sparkly eyes hypnotizing him completely.

“Is that so?” he managed to mumble, looking at their entwined hands.

“Yes” Elizabeth said sincerely. 

A small smirk started to appear on Micah’s face.

“Good then, cause I don’t intend on letting you go easily” he said as he looked up at Elizabeth, a full mischievous smirk on his lips.

“Is that a threat Mister Bell?” Elizabeth asked, a raised eyebrow and a playful smile.

“A promise” Micah answered before leaning towards her and capturing her lips.

Elizabeth could not stop from smiling as she kissed him back, her hands around his neck to pull him closer. Micah’s lips left hers to trail down her neck as he made her lie down on the grass. A soft moan escaped Elizabeth pink lips when Micah planted lingering kisses on her collar bone, one of his hands stroking her waist. He lifted his head up to look at her with adoration in his eyes, still gently caressing her waist. Elizabeth opened her eyes and smiled at him like no one ever did, raising her small hand to hold his cheek and draw small circles on his jaw.

“You’re too good to me” Micah said quietly.

“Nonsense, that’s the opposite” she answered just as quietly, reaching his lips for a soft, loving kiss.

Micah looked at her with a soft expression before standing up and offering her his hand to help her stand up.

“We should head back if we want to reach the camp before night fall” he said as he raised her up on her feet.

As they walked towards Baylock, Micah did not let go of Elizabeth’s hand. 

The trip back to camp was quiet. They both enjoyed each other proximity as the sun was slowly setting. When they reached camp, they barely had time to climb down Baylock that Dutch rushed towards them.

“Miss Forcier! Micah! Have seen that boy, Jack ?!“ Dutch urged them as he grabbed Elizabeth roughly by her shoulders.

“Uhm... no. We were out of camp most of the day” Elizabeth stammered, surprised to see Dutch this agitated.

“Enough now! What’s going on?” Micah asked as he pushed Dutch away from Elizabeth.

“We think the Braithwate woman took him” Hosea joined them, also looking anxious. “That Kieran saw a couple of fellers... sound like Braithwate boys” he added.

Elizabeth saw Abigail, clearly in distress, asking where her son was. Then Dutch ordered Micah and Kieran to stay at camp while he and the other men rode to the Braithwaite’s mansion. Micah and Elizabeth exchanged a quick gaze before Micah went to grab a rifle and headed at the edge of camp. Elizabeth sighted before heading toward Abigail tent, where the other girls were trying to comfort her. 

Later in the night, Elizabeth walked in the camp. They finally managed to calm Abigail, who even fell asleep, exhausted after all the shouting and worrying. She noticed Micah, still on guard duty, leaning against a tree. Elizabeth filled two cups of coffee and walked towards him.

“Here” she gently said as she gave him one cup.

“Thanks” Micah sighted. They both sipped in silence.

“I hope they’re gonna find him” Elizabeth said, worry clear in her voice.

Micah did not say anything, instead he put his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders, holding her close to him. Suddenly, they heard horses racing, coming closer. Micah quickly took his rifle, and stepped in front of Elizabeth. But they realized it was the other gang members coming back. Micah relaxed and they walked closer to learn what happened.

Dutch explained that Jack was now in Saint Denis, with a man named Angelo Bronte. He convinced everyone to get a night of rest before they could think of what will happen next to get the boy back. Everyone parted towards their respective beds. Elizabeth went to sit by the scout fire, not feeling like sleeping yet. Micah soon joined her, sitting close to her.

“This place sure is pretty, but it didn’t seem to bring us any luck” Elizabeth said as she looked around.

“When you said you were happier here with us, was it true?” Micah suddenly asked, his gaze fixed on the fire.

“Of course it was. I mean, sure there were some hard times, but I guess it’s part of the deal when you want to live freely like this” she shrugged with a small smile.

“You’re really amazing” Micah chuckled as he put his arm around her waist to hold her close.

“I’m no such thing compare to all of you” Elizabeth said with a little laugh, her cheeks colored pink.

“Yes you are. You just don’t see it yet” Micah said quietly.

Elizabeth just bowed her head slightly, her smile growing bigger. She took a deep breath before sighting and closing her eyes, feeling all the worries of the evening leave her body as she leant against Micah and lay her head on his shoulder. 

She did not know what tomorrow would bring them, but as long as she had Micah by her side, she knew she would be alright.

***

The next morning, Dutch was talking with John and some other men about Jack when they heard Lenny.

“Hey, Dutch. We got a problem” he said, a rifle aimed at two men walking in the camp.

“Not a problem... visitors... a solution” one of the man said.

Elizabeth walked towards Micah, not liking the atmosphere around those two men.

“Who are they?” she asked discretely Micah as she stood beside him.

“Not good news” he answered lowly before putting himself slightly between her and the Pinkerton’s detectives.

The conversation between the men and Dutch ended with threats and loaded guns. When the intruders were gone, Dutch ordered everyone to start packing. Arthur mentioned an old house outside Saint Denis, in the swamp.

“Maybe this new place will bring us more luck” Elizabeth sighted, a sad smile on her face. 

Micah looked at her, a bit upset to see her sad. He gently put his hand on the small of her back to comfort her.

“I hope so too. Go pack your things, I have to talk to Dutch” Micah said softly before heading toward Dutch’s tent.

***

When they arrived at Shady Belle, they were theatrically welcomed by Arthur. Everyone was put to work by Miss Grimshaw again to install the camp. At the end of the afternoon, everything was in place. Some of the men, including Micah, were in town, looking for information about this Bronte man or other leads.   
Elizabeth was walking behind the big house, exploring this new place. She heard movements behind and saw Javier quickly walking towards her.

“Here you are hermosa. What are you doing on your own?” Javier asked as he regained his breath.

“Just wandering, getting used to the mosquitoes and the humidity” Elizabeth joked as she started to walk again, now followed by Javier.

“Ah quite a weather yes. But Dutch says it’s only for a few days” Javier said, his faith in the man still as strong as ever.

“I really hope so” she sighted.

“Well, while we’re here, I was wondering if you’d like to go fishing with me?” Javier asked, but Elizabeth attention was already focused on a blonde outlaw climbing down from his horse.

“Ehm... fishing? Sure, why not. I have to go, see you” Elizabeth quickly said before heading toward the hitching posts. Javier could only look at her back, starting to understand he was too late.

“Did you find him” Elizabeth asked Micah as soon as she reached him.

“Yeah, Dutch’s heading there with Marston and Morgan to get the boy back” Micah answered as he gave a sugar cub to Baylock.

“Oh that’s great” Elizabeth sighted. She felt so relieved to hear that.

“And, how was it?” she then asked, a smile forming on her face.

“How was what?” Micah looked at her confused.

“Saint Denis, of course! I’ve never been in such a big city” Elizabeth replied, her eyes sparkling.

“It’s just a big city, full of people and horses’ shit” Micah rolled his eyes.

“So you’re not gonna take me to town?” Elizabeth asked like a sad child, with her best puppy’s eyes.

Micah looked at her, trying to look unimpressed, when in reality, he was almost melting from such cuteness.

Elizabeth pouted a bit more as she took Micah’s hand.

“Please...” she begged him.

“Fine! I’ll take you” Micah chuckled, not able to resist Elizabeth any longer.

“Yay! Thanks!” Elizabeth said as she quickly kissed him on the corner of his lips.

“I’ll go check on Abigail, I’ll see you later” she waved at him as she headed towards the house.

Micah shook his head, smiling, as he walked towards the beer’s crate. He took a bottle before sitting at the table. He drank and thought about how she was really starting to make him soft, this little lady.


	11. Chapter 11

The night has fallen on Shady Belle. There was tension in the air, everyone was worried about how the confrontation with Bronte would go. Elizabeth was playing dominoes with Hosea to pass the time and distract herself. When they heard horses, everyone’s head perked up.

“Hey, they’re back! I think I see Jack” Bill shouted.

“Abigail! Abigail! We got you your son, everything...” Dutch started but soon got cut by John and Jack, also calling out to Abigail.

Everyone hurried to welcome Jack back. Elizabeth was smiling so hard, her eyes got a bit watery from the reunion scene in front of her. Then Dutch announced a party to celebrate Jack’s return. Everyone gather around the fire, close to the reunited little family. Javier started to play guitar and everyone started to sing with him. Elizabeth was standing in front of Pearson’s wagon, enjoying the sight of happy people singing together, when she felt a hand on her back.

“Dutch told me they got the boy back” Micah said, keeping his hand on Elizabeth’s back.

“Yeah, they just came back” she said with a smile. “Weren’t you on guard duty?” she then asked.

“I was, but Dutch told me to come celebrate with everyone, so here I am. Any complains?” he playfully asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“None” Elizabeth answered as she leaned against him.

She was lost looking at the Marston’s family in front of her, a bit of envy in her eyes. She wondered if maybe, one day, she could too, with Micah? Micah noticed her gaze and he also started to think. He never thought of having a family. Never. But what now? As he looked at the woman in his arm, he thought that the idea of having a family was less repulsive that it has been until now. He could not believe the effect she has on him, but maybe it was for the best?

For the time being, Micah just decided to enjoy the present, with Elizabeth.

“Want a beer?” he asked, taking Elizabeth out of her thinking.

“Mmh? Oh yeah thanks” she said as she smiled warmly at him.

Later in the night, Javier stopped playing, a soft music now coming from Dutch’s gramophone. Elizabeth and Micah were walking behind the house, talking and laughing when Elizabeth heard the music.

“Micah?” Elizabeth asked.

“Mm? What is it sweetheart?”  
“Would you like to dance” she finally asked with, looking at him with a soft expression.

“I don’t dance, you know” Micah started.

“But no one will see us here. Please” she asked again, using her puppy eyes power on him.

Micah looked at her, hesitant, before agreeing.

“Alright, but not too long” he mumbled.

Elizabeth gave him a triumphant smile as she got closer to him and put one hand on his shoulder and hold his hand with the other. Micah put his hand on her back, and pulled her closer. They danced slowly as Elizabeth leaned her head against Micah’s chest and closer her eyes, a content smile on her lips. Micah sighted as he relaxed, and put his head on top of hers. That was not so bad in the end, he thought.

They danced a bit more before Micah walked Elizabeth to her tent.

“Thanks for the dance. I really enjoyed it” Elizabeth took Micah’s hand as she smiled at him.

“My pleasure” he simply answered, looking at her with soft eyes.

“Good night Micah” she whispered as she kissed him softly.

“Good night” he said as he watched her entered her tent. 

Micah took a deep breath and walked towards his tent. He lit a cigarette as he reflected on his feeling for her. They were getting clearer by the days. He really did care about her, he has to admit it, at least to himself. 

***

The next morning, Elizabeth and Micah were discussing while drinking a coffee around the fire when Dutch approached them.

“Miss Forcier, Micah, I’m gonna need you tonight at the mayor’s party” Dutch asked simply.

“Why?” Micah asked, not liking the idea of getting Elizabeth involved in Dutch’s business.

“I simply thought that Miss Forcier and her knowledge in this kind of party could be a great help tonight. And I thought that you would’ve like to accompany her” Dutch answered with his most charismatic smile.

“I’m not sure... I don’t even have a dress for an event like this” Elizabeth said, not entirely comfortable with the idea.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m sure the girls have something they could lend you for the night. Alright it’s settled then. We’ll leave at six, be ready” Dutch said before disappearing inside the house.

“Well... I guess we’re going to a party” Elizabeth said with an uncertain smile. Micah only scoffed, wondering what Dutch had in mind.

When they finished their coffee, Elizabeth went to ask the girls for a dress. Abigail showed her a beautiful, deep purple, dress.

“I only used it once, so it should be in good condition” Abigail said as she gave Elizabeth the dress.

“Thanks Abigail. Dutch really took me by surprise here” Elizabeth replied, a bit embarrassed to have to borrow such a nice dress.

“Don’t mention. Try to enjoy yourself too, it not every day you receive an invitation to the major’s house” she said playfully with a wink.

“I sure will” Elizabeth laughed before heading toward her tent to put down the dress for the evening.

She then spent her day between chores and discussing with a few people. When the evening came, she put on the dress, and Mary-Beth helped her with her hair. She braided it and tied it up in a simple yet elegant way.

When the time came, she joined the men, already gathered around a carriage.

“Ah Miss Forcier! Marvellous ! Now we can go” Dutch said with enthusiasm.

Elizabeth noticed Micah’s smirk as he approached her and helped her climb into the carriage. He climbed after her and sat next to her while Dutch and Hosea sat in front of them.

“Arthur and Bill already went on horse. They’re waiting for us at the entrance” Dutch explained before the carriage, driven by Lenny, started to move.

Dutch opened and served some champagne while he explained what he had in mind for the evening.

When they arrived in front of the mayor’s house, Arthur and Bill joined them. As they were guided inside, Elizabeth felt a hand brushing against her back.

“You’re real pretty tonight” Micah whispered in her ear, which sent shivers down her spine.

“You’re not too bad either” she answered playfully before Dutch called them out.

“Miss Forcier, Micah and Bill, you join the party, see if you can found some lead. We’ll meet you out back after we pay our respects to Signor Bronte” Dutch said.

“I hate to wear a costume” Bill mumbled, struggling with his bow tie too tight.

“Relax Bill, you’re looking mighty fine in this” Elizabeth said as she loosened his bow a bit.

Bill mumbled something, his ears all red.

“W-we should split up... be more effective” he quickly added before disappearing in the crowd.

“I think you broke him” Micah chuckled.

“Poor Bill” Elizabeth said. She felt a bit sorry for Bill. The man should really be more confident in himself.

They also walked through the crowd, looking for interesting people.

“Here, I think that’s the mayor” Micah said as he nodded in direction of a group of men.

They looked at the group a moment, and noticed a man, clearly drunk, talking nonsense in the middle of the men.

“Well, shall we go and introduce ourselves?” Elizabeth said playfully. Micah only smirked as he followed her. 

As she walked, Elizabeth took a glass of wine from one of the men distributing it. When she arrived near the drunken man, she bumped into him, causing the content of her glass to spill on the man’s shirt.

“Oh dear! I’m so, so sorry!!” Elizabeth said as she looked at the man, faking horror.

“What the hell woman!” the man shouted, looking very angry.

“Mister, I think you should go clean that shirt of yours now” Micah now intervened as he took the man firmly by the shoulders and took him further as he nodded to the other men, leaving Elizabeth alone with them.

“I deeply apologize for this scene, but I thought you could use a bit of help” Elizabeth said politely with an apologetic smile.

“Indeed. Thanks to you, and your friend I suppose. Henri Lemieux. I hope your enjoying my party” the major said as he shook Elizabeth’s hand.

“I do actually. This place is wonderful” Elizabeth said, looking around. 

“It’s not mine... and the city is horribly in debt, but we can still put on a good show. Here, let me introduce you to my nephew, Louis Martin. Louis, would you mind showing this young lady where we hide the good wines, as a thank you for your help” Henri smiled at Elizabeth.

“Oui bien sûr. Follow me please” Louis agreed with a heavy French accent.

“You’re not from around here as I can hear” Elizabeth asked as they walked toward the house.

“Non, I am from Paris. I am here to learn, as my parents say” Louis answered with a sarcastic tone.

“And do you like it here” Elizabeth asked again.

“I am not sure yet. And my English is far from good, so it is a bit hard to... blend in” Louis said, a bit embarrassed.

“Je trouve votre anlgais très acceptable” she told him that his English was fine.

“Et votre français est simplement parfait” Louis said that her French was perfect as he opened the door that lead to the wine cellar.

“Merci. Mon père me l’a fait apprendre quand j’étais jeune” she explained her dad made her learn French when she was younger. 

They walked through the cellar until Louis picked a bottle of red wine. He opened it and poured two glasses.

“And what are you doing of your days here in Saint Denis?” Elizabeth asked as she sipped at her wine. It was truly delicious.

“Oh you know, nothing much. My father wants me to meet people. But I am not good at it. In a few days for example, my father will drag me to a... a riverboat! To play poker. I have never played poker in my life. I think he just want me there to watch his cabin. Lots of money will be on this boat I am telling you!” Louis said. The poor boy was clearly not used to red wine and was already quite drunk.

“A riverboat and poker. Sure sounds interesting” Elizabeth thought to herself.

“Pardon?” Louis mumbled.

“Nothing” she quickly said with a smile “Thank you again for the wine, it was delightful, but I really must go and find my friend now. Maybe we’ll meet again” she added before kissing the man on the cheek, leaving him as red as the wine.

When she reached the garden, fireworks exploded in the sky. She looked at them amazed, when she felt two strong arms holding her.

“Found anything interesting?” Micah whispered to her ear.

“Might have. You?” she answered with a confident smirk before turning around to face Micah and putting her hands around his neck. 

“Maybe” he answered in the same way she did before leaning toward her to kiss her.

Elizabeth smiled in the kiss, pulling Micah closer.

“We should go, they’re waiting for us” Micah said as he pulled away to look at Elizabeth.

“Lead the way” she simply answered with a smile.

Micah put his hand on the small of her back and they walked toward the house to join the others.

“Miss Forcier. How was your night” Dutch asked Elizabeth as they walked toward the exit. They noticed the way Micah was close to her, but no one mentioned it. 

“Very rewarding” she answered. Dutch simply smiled, pleased with her.

As they were climbing in the carriage, someone came running after them.

“Miss! Miss!” the man shouted as he stopped in front of them.

Elizabeth looked at the man quizzically.

“Monsieur Louis asked me to give you this” he breathed heavily as he gave her a bottle of red wine.

“Oh. That’s very kind of him. Thank him for me, would you” she said, surprised to receive a gift. It was another bottle of the wine they drank earlier.

“It will be done. Goodnight” the man said with a nod.

***

During their way back to Shady Belle, Elizabeth explained to them what happened and the lead about the riverboat. 

“That’s very good, Miss Forcier. I’ll ask Trelawny to investigate more about it” Dutch said, very satisfied of their night out. 

When they reached camp, it was the middle of the night. Everyone was asleep, expect the one on guard duty. Micah walked with Elizabeth toward her tent.

“So? How was it to have your first big job?” Micah asked as he stopped and leaned against a tree, his arms crossed on his chest.

“That was great. I finally really feel helpful” she answered with a smile.

“You did great. I’m proud of you” Micah added as he took her by the hips and pulled her closer to him.

“Yeah?” she put her arms around his neck.

“Yeah, real proud” he said lowly as he kept his hands on her hips, squeezing them slightly.

Elizabeth bit her lips, before reaching for his. The kiss was more passionate than before. Elizabeth was running her fingers through Micah’s hair, tugging at it not too hard, as he was pulling her even closer.

“Your tent?” Elizabeth whispered, out of breath and her lips parted with desire.

Micah only smirked as he slipped on of his hand on her back and lead her to his tent, a bit further away from the others. She entered first and Micah followed, closing the canvas. When he turned around, Elizabeth had her back to him and was undoing the front of her dress. Micah removed his jacket before approaching her. He put his hands on her shoulders, slightly brushing her soft skin as he lowered them to her waist while attacking the back of her neck with kisses. Micah helped Elizabeth to   
remove the dress from her shoulders, and it fell around her feet.

She was left in her light underwear when Micah took her hand to make her look at him. He cupped her cheeks as he looked at her in the eyes.

“Beautiful” he whispered as he captured her lips for a lingering kiss. 

Elizabeth undid Micah’s shirt before he removed it and tossed it on the floor, never breaking the kiss.

Micah’s hands were now all over her body, caressing every part just the right way. He then reached down and lifted her up, holding her under her thighs. He walked them to the bed, in which he carefully kneeled, Elizabeth still in his arms. He lay her down as he planted tender kisses on her neck. She had her hands on his hair, holding him close.

He then stopped and looked at her.

“You sure?” he asked, looked at her with a serious expression.

“More than anything” she answered with a tender smile as she took his face in her hands and kissed him softly.

From this, it was only soft caresses and tender kisses. Micah was not usually this gentle, but he did not wish to scare her away, so he tried his best. And he knew he   
did right when he heard soft moans and content sighs leaving Elizabeth’s lips. The most exquisite sounds he has ever heard.

He removed Elizabeth’s underwear and covered her newly exposed skin with caresses and kisses. Her skin was so soft and white, unlike anything he has ever seen. He kissed her neck, her chest, and then lowered himself to her stomach, her thighs to finally reach her inner thighs and her intimacy. She gasped slightly when his mouth was on her, playing with her soft skin. She grabbed him by his hair, tugging it every now and then, which made Micah groaned slightly of pleasure.

She moaned louder when he inserted a finger inside her, moving his hand slowly, studying her reactions before inserting a second finger. He moved his hand quicker, as he felt, and heard, she was enjoying it. Her breath was heavier as he felt her wall tightened around his fingers and her hand gripping harder at his hair.

“Micah!” she moaned as she felt a wave of pleasure engulf her, making her head rolled back and her legs trembled. 

Micah looked at her in awe, coming undone around his fingers. As she caught her breath, Micah pulled himself toward her.

“Alright?” he whispered as he looked at her with a gentle smirk.

“Yeah” she breathed out, smiling at the man in front of her before kissing him passionately. 

Micah positioned himself on top of her as Elizabeth put her hands around his neck to pull him closer. Her hands traveled from his neck to his chest as Micah rolled his hips against her, taking another moan from her. She wrapped her fingers around his belt before tugging at it and undoing it. Micah let her do it with a smirk forming in his lips. When she was done, he quickly stood up to completely remove his pant and his boots before joining the warmth of Elizabeth’s body. 

He kissed her softly as he positioned himself between her legs. She held him close as he pushed into her, stopping to let her adjust. They looked at each other with small loving smiles, before Elizabeth kissed him and rolled her hips, letting Micah know he could move. He started with a slow, sensual pace, enjoying each sensation.  
When the pace became quicker and more irregular, Elizabeth dug her nails in Micah’s back. He groaned, enjoying it more than he thought. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, feeling his end coming closer as she tightened around him again. She held onto his neck and moaned his name, her end making his hips stuttered as he reached his release just after her.

They stayed still, regaining their breath. Micah planted a few lazy kisses in Elizabeth’s neck as she brushed her hand across his back and his arms. Micah then rolled onto his back, grabbing Elizabeth so she was now laying comfortably on his chest.

“Well, that was a productive night” Micah said, looking in front of him.

“That it was” Elizabeth laughed as she looked at him, taking his cheek to turn his head towards her.

“I love you Micah” she said just above a whispered. 

She has been thinking about her feelings for Micah for a while now. At first she was not sure if it was love or just some silly romantic ideas. But as the time passed, she realized she really did love him. And she was very aware that Micah would probably not have such deep feelings for, at least not yet, but she still wanted to tell him, to let him know. She did not say it expecting him to answer to her confession. This was why what he said next surprised her, to say the least.

“Me too sweetheart” he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up before Micah, her head on his chest. She stretched her body a bit before looking at Micah with a tender smile as she brushed her hand on his cheek. She still could not believe what happened yesterday, that he shared her feelings. She stood on her elbows and planted a delicate kiss on Micah’s lips, which caused him to slowly wake up.

“Mmh, you’re still here?” he said with a sleepy voice.

Elizabeth blinked a few time at the man before starting to stand up.

“Kidding! I’m messing with you! Stay here” he laughed as he grabbed her by the waist and lay her under him.

Elizabeth was pouting hard as she looked at him. Micah only looked at her with a gentle, yet playful smile as he pushed one of her cheeks with his index, making her laugh.

“There. I prefer the smile” he said as he leaned down to kiss her.

Elizabeth smiled as she kissed him back. They fooled around for a bit before they heard activity in the camp.

“We should get out of bed” Elizabeth said, not motivated one bit.

“Sure we should” Micah answered as he ran his hand from her waist to her thigh and planted lingering kisses in her neck.

Elizabeth hummed in contentment as she closed her eyes and played with Micah’s hair, a smile on her face. What a good way to spend a morning.

“Micah! You’re awake?” Dutch suddenly called out, approaching the tent.

“What is it?” Micah asked, rolling his eyes.

“Have you seen Miss Forcier? I can’t find her” Dutch asked.

“... no. What do you want from her” he answered hesitantly, looking at Elizabeth under him, who was trying not to laugh.

“Her lead about the riverboat. It’s for tonight. If you see her, can you tell her to meet Josiah at the tailor in town to pick a dress in the afternoon?” Dutch said.

“Sure, I’ll tell her” Micah answered as he looked at Elizabeth, still giggling. 

“Thanks. I’ll see you later” Dutch said before leaving.

“Well, you heard him” Micah said as he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face with his hand.

“Yes, and I have an idea” Elizabeth started “You remember what you promise me the other day?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

Micah looked at Elizabeth above his shoulder, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“That you’ll take me to town?” she explained.

“Oh, that. Yeah” Micah remembered his discussion with her.

“Well, that could be the opportunity. We go on a stroll into town, and when the time comes, you can show me where the tailor is” she explained her idea as she got out of bed and put on the dress from yesterday.

“You never give up huh?” Micah chuckled, getting dressed as well.

“Never, remember? I’ll see you later then” she simply said, with a wink, as she left the tent.

Micah put his hat on his head and went to see Dutch.

Elizabeth quickly went to her tent to change her dress and joined Mary-Beth, who was cleaning some clothes near the river. She sat next to her and helped her.

“Dutch was looking for you this morning” Mary-Beth said, looking at her work.

“Yeah, I heard” Elizabeth said as she looked awkwardly at her friend.

“And where were you? I, also, was looking for you this morning” Mary-Beth asked, a small smile appearing on her lips as she kept her gaze on the shirt she was cleaning.

“... with Micah” Elizabeth whispered, her face bright red.

“I knew it!!” Mary-Beth finally looked up at her friend, a huge smile on her lips. “And I’m guessing after seeing you rushing to your tent this morning, still wearing the dress from last night, that things got interesting” she said with a knowing look.

“Stop it!” Elizabeth hided her face in hers hands as she laughed.

“But more seriously, did something happened?” Mary-Beth asked as she started to clean another cloth.

“You could say that” Elizabeth said shyly. She was not used to talk about those things.

“Mmh” Mary-Beth simply hummed, leaving to Elizabeth the freedom to say more if she wanted to.

“I also... told him that I love him” Elizabeth added quietly, playing with the piece of cloth in her hand.

“And?” Mary-Beth’s head perked up, very interested.

“He said he loves me too” Elizabeth answered, a huge smile appearing on her face, pink again.

“Seriously?!” Mary-Beth almost shouted her eyes wide opened.

“Yes. I was surprised too. I mean, I knew he cared at least a bit for me. But I never would have expected that” Elizabeth said as she started to do some cleaning.

“Well, it’s not like Micah to express his feeling, but at the same time, he has changed quite a bit since you joined us. A lot of people noticed he acted less like a jerk lately” Mary-Beth said pensively. “So, what now? You’re like, a thing?” Mary-Beth asked carefully.

“I’m not sure, but I guess. We’re going to town together later” Elizabeth explained as she washed more clothes.

“It’s a date then!” Mary-Beth said, still very excited.

“Is it?” Elizabeth asked as she looked at her friend.

“It is!” Mary-Beth answered with a confident expression.

“Alright, alright” Elizabeth laughed as they finished their washing.

“Go to your prince, I’ll deal with those” Mary-Beth said as she took the clean clothes from Elizabeth’s hands.

“Thanks, see you” Elizabeth said before leaving toward the hitching post cheerfully. 

She waited a bit, petting and giving food to Baylock.

“Ready to be disappointed?” Micah joined her.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad” Elizabeth chuckled. 

They both mounted Baylock and headed toward Saint-Denis. Elizabeth felt very excited, not only because of the town, but because she’ll be able to spend some time with Micah, far from the camp.

They left Baylock at a hitching post near the train station and went on by feet. They went through a lot of little alleys and ended up on one of the main paved avenue. They walked and talked together. Micah tried to look annoyed and unimpressed by the city, but Elizabeth’s fascination made him melt. He thought she was really cute, acting like a child discovering a new place. When the time came, Micah guided her towards the tailor to meet with Trelawny.

“Ah Miss Forcier, just in time. Mister Bell” Josiah greeted them.

“I’ll see you tonight” Micah told Elizabeth after nodding at Josiah and walking away.

“Shall we?” Josiah then said, showing Elizabeth the tailor’s shop. She smiled at him and entered the shop.

At first, Elizabeth was a bit overwhelmed by the number of dresses, colors and materials. But with Josiahs’ helped, she soon enjoyed herself. She picked an elegant backless dress, green and made of silk. It has thin straps and no sleeves, which was not common. But she thought that it would be good to draw attention to her, it would give more freedom to the boys on the riverboat. She put it on and showed to result to Josiah.

“My, my, my, Miss. You are simply exquisite” Josiah said as he took her hand and made her spin.

“I really like it. But isn’t it a bit too much?” Elizabeth asked, unsure.

Josiah took both of her hands and looked at her in the eyes.

“If you like it and you want it, then it’s never too much. We’ll take this one” Josiah said as he left Elizabeth get changed and went to pay for the dress.

When Elizabeth got out of the dressing room, her dress in her hand, her eyes got caught by something. She touched it from her fingertips as a smile appeared on her   
lips.

“Can you add this to the bill please” she quickly said as she rushed towards Josiah and the seller. Josiah looked at what she had in hand and only smiled, not saying a word.

They then met with Arthur and went to the barber, where Elizabeth and Arthur changed their clothes and got their hair done, and joined Javier and Strauss in front of the boat. When he saw her, Javier stayed speechless for a moment, until Josiah led them to get on board.

“You look wonderful in this, Hermosa” Javier whispered in Elizabeth’s ear.

“Thanks Javier. You pretty handsome too in costume” Elizabeth blushed slightly. Her dress was showing a lot of skin and she was not used to have men looking at her like this. It got worse when they entered the main room in the boat. Josiah, who stayed with her, felt her getting tensed and trying to hide behind him.

“You are truly marvelous tonight. Don’t let those pigs make you uncomfortable. You love the dress, enjoy it. Wear it proudly” Josiah said discreetly to her ear as he put his hand on the small of her back, very chastely, and guided her to the bar.

“Thanks Josiah” she said quietly before taking a deep breath and straitening up, a small smile appearing on her lips.

“Much better” he winked at her as he gave her a glass of champagne.

They talked for a bit, drinking and observing the people in the room. Elizabeth enjoyed Josiah’s company. He has a way with words, which made him someone very entertaining. Suddenly, Elizabeth recognized a familiar face.

“There, the mayor’s nephew” she subtly nodded in the direction of Louis, the man she met at the major’s party.

“Time to work” Josiah laughed as Elizabeth finished her glass and left toward the man.

Louis Martin was leaning against one of the pillar, looking with a bored expression a game of poker.

“Enjoying your evening?” Elizabeth asked as she stood next to the man.

“Oh! It’s you!” Louis said, surprised.

“It is. Seems like we meet again” Elizabeth said with a charming smile.

“It seems” Louis answered, a bit distracted by Elizabeth’s dress.

“I suppose your father is currently playing?” she asked, looking around the room.

“He is indeed, has been the whole time actually. I don’t know what to do anymore to pass time” Louis sighted.

“I was going to take a stroll on the deck. Would you perhaps accompany me?” she asked sweetly, with a small smile.

“Avec plaisir” the man said with enthusiast. She took his arm and they walked out of the room. 

Javier watched them disappear behind the door. He had changed his clothes and was now playing the guard. He could not help but feel a bit jealous. He also would have loved to spend some time with her tonight. He also was a bit worried at first to see her leave with a man, but quickly concluded that the man was not a menace. 

Elizabeth and Louis were walking on the deck, enjoying the fresh evening air.

“Is it alright for you to walk with me? Didn’t you mention your father wanting you to guard his cabin?” Elizabeth asked innocently. 

“Oh right... Do you mind if we quickly go check it?” Louis asked awkwardly.

“Not at all. Allons-y!” Elizabeth answered.

They were heading towards the stairs when Elizabeth noticed Javier coming outside. She quickly motioned for him to follow them. When they arrived in front of the cabin, Louis quickly opened it to check inside before closing the door and putting the key in his inner vest pocket. 

Elizabeth leaned against the fence and looked at the sky.

“The stars are so pretty tonight” she said dreamily as Louis came beside her “Don’t you think there is something romantic about a black sky full a shiny stars?” Elizabeth asked as she turned her body to look at the man, getting closer. 

“I get the feeling you are a romantic person” she added as she brushed her hand against his, and slowly moved it up his arm and shoulder, to end up on the lapel of his vest.

“I might be, yes” Louis stuttered, hypnotized by Elizabeth’s lips. He leaned towards her, but got interrupted by someone cleaning his throat. 

“Miss, Mister, I advise you to be careful, the river can be agitated at night. We don’t want to lose any passengers tonight” Javier, still disguised as a guard, advised them.

“Erm, sure Mister, thank you” Louis answered quickly, embarrassed about the situation as Javier went on his way.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had the time to give the key she collected to Javier, without Louis noticing. 

“We should probably head back inside, it’s getting colder out here” Elizabeth proposed.

“Sure things” Louis answered.

When they entered the room, Elizabeth noticed Josiah and Arthur at the bar, arguing with another man.

“There’s plenty I don’t like about you, but I have the good manners to keep my mouth shut” Josiah said to the man as he stood up.

“There he is, shoot that man” a man in his underwear shouted as he indicated Javier.

After that, everything went rogue. Bullets came flying from everywhere as Elizabeth and the others were trying to make their way to the deck. They all jumped in the cold water and swam towards the harbor. Elizabeth struggled a bit with her long dress but managed to keep up.

“Well, never a dull moment...” Josiah said as they caught their breath.

“You’re alright?” Javier asked Elizabeth while the others were counting the money.

“Yeah, just cold, thanks” Elizabeth shrugged. She felt a bit sorry for her dress, but at least they all made it to the shore.

In the stagecoach, Javier showed Elizabeth what he found in the Martin’s cabin. 

“One thousand dollars, some jewelry and diamonds, and an engraved hunting knife. Not bad at all” Javier said happily as he gave everything to Elizabeth.

“What about you?” she said, a bit confused.

“You’re the one who got the key” he simply said with a wink.

“And you’re the one who actually stole all that. You should take half of it” Elizabeth insisted.

“Then, half the money, keep the rest. You deserve it, you did well on this job” Javier told her as he accepted the money she gave him.

“... alright” Elizabeth gave up with a smile.

When they arrived at camp, they all decided to celebrate their success with a beer around the scout fire. Only Strauss excused himself and retreated to his bedroll. Elizabeth saw Micah, who was sitting at the main fire.

“Hey, you’re still up?” Elizabeth asked, not expecting to see Micah, but not disappointed one bit.

“Yeah, didn’t feel like sleeping” Micah shrugged as he took in Elizabeth’s appearance “That’s a mighty fine dress you got yourself” he added with a smirk, looking at her from head to toes with no shame.

“And you haven’t seen it dry” Elizabeth laughed. 

At the same moment, Javier put his arm around her shoulder.

“Let’s celebrate our best con woman!” he chirped, already a bit tipsy.

“Come with us” she tried to tell Micah. But he only scoffed and headed toward his tent.

“What’s between you and him anyway?” Javier asked as they sat down, the other to busy talking and drinking to pay attention.

“What do you mean” Elizabeth said, feeling her face heating up.

“Come on, it’s all pretty obvious you two spend a lot of time together. It’s just... I care about you Elizabeth” Javier said as he took one of her hand, suddenly serious. “And I don’t want you to end up sad because of Micah. He’s not known to be faithful” he added quietly.

Elizabeth was a bit speechless for a moment before a small smile appeared to her face.

“Thanks Javier, I really appreciate it. But you really don’t need to worry about me. Everything’s fine” she said as she put her second hand on top of his.

“You love him?” Javier simply asked, still looking at her straight in the eyes.

“Yes” Elizabeth whispered, lowering her head to hide her blush.

“Alright, if you’re happy, then that’s all that matters to me” Javier answered as he gave Elizabeth her beer and then took his. “To happiness” he said more cheerfully as he raised his bottle.

“To happiness” Elizabeth repeated with a smile.

Arthur and Josiah joined them and they drank a bit more together. Elizabeth finished her beer and said good night to the three men. She quickly and discreetly headed towards Micah’s tent, hoping he was not sleeping yet. She passed her head thought the canvas, and indeed, Micah was awake, sitting on his bed, sharpening his knife.

“Found myself a pretty one on the boat earlier. All engraved” she said quietly as she put down the bag Javier gave her before.

Micah did not react at all, his gaze still on his knife.

“Right...” Elizabeth whispered to herself. She came to understand that Micah could be quite the jealous type, even if he would never admit it.

“Micah, do you think you can help me with my dress?” she started, trying to dry her hair with a rag she found. The humidity was not helping.

No answer.

“Micah, please. I’m all wet, it’s difficult for me to remove it” she added with a flirty tone. 

Micah looked up at her with an annoyed expression. 

“Fine” he mumbled as he stood up he got closer. He undid some of the lace from her dress, trying not to stare too much at her naked back, before quickly turning back and starting to sharpen his knife again. 

Elizabeth sighted, loudly, before turning her back to him and removing her dress.

“That was a pretty dress, don’t you think?” she asked, looking at him above her shoulder.

“Don’t know, don’t care” Micah grumbled, not looking up.

“I really liked it. And this too. I bought it earlier with the dress, though it’s a shame it got wet. You like it?” she asked quietly.

Micah, a bit confused about was she was talking about, looked up and froze. She was wearing a beautiful lingerie set, dark green like her dress. He was devouring her body with his gaze, still speechless.

“Well, I guess if you don’t like it, I’m just gonna leave you to your dear knife” she said with a small sight, quickly grabbing her dress and turning towards the exit.

“Wait!” Micah stood up faster than ever, grabbing her arm.

She turned around to look at him as she let the dress fall back on the floor. Micah’s hold on her arm became looser and both his hands ended up on Elizabeth’s waist, gently touching the soft material. 

“You like it?” she whispered as she put her arm around his neck, looking at his face with adoration. 

Micah simply nodded, a smirk starting to appear on his face as his hands became more pressing.

“Love it” he said as he buried his face in her neck to plant lingering kiss, still enjoying the feeling of the soft material under his rough hands. 

Elizabeth was proud of her surprise. It was definitely a success.


	13. Chapter 13

When Micah opened his eyes, he was welcomed by the sight of Elizabeth, sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair with her fingers, and wearing one of his shirt. He admired her a moment before sitting, which made Elizabeth realized he was awake.

“Good morning” she said with a smile as she looked at him above her shoulder.

“Morning. Looks good on you” Micah nodded at her, a smirk already on his lips.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind. I really didn’t feel like putting back the dress from last night. It’s still damp” Elizabeth explained, showing her dress on the floor.

There was a moment of silence before she heard Micah cleaned his throat.

“Well, you can bring some of your stuff here” he mumbled. 

Elizabeth looked at him, a bit surprised. Micah was not looking at her, his hands seemed very interesting at the moment. He quickly glanced at her when she was not answering.

“Like, some spare clothes, y’know...” he felt the need to add, but relaxed a bit when he saw she has a start of a smile on her face.

“Yeah, it’s a good idea” Elizabeth simply answered as she looked at him. 

She thought it was very endearing when Micah acted that way. She knew he was a bit uncomfortable when it came to feelings, but she also knew he tried hard for her, and she really appreciated it.

She stood up from the bed and walked next to Micah. She sat on the bed and cupped his face before looking at him with a soft look and planting a tender kiss on his lips. Micah caressed Elizabeth’s thigh as he answered to the kiss. They then both got dressed, Elizabeth having to put back on her damp dress before switching with clean clothes from her tent. Micah went on guard duty while Elizabeth started some chores around camp.

Elizabeth was helping Pearson by chopping vegetables when Mary-Beth came, looking troubled.

“Elizabeth, have you by any chance seen Kieran?” she asked, her brows furrowed.

“Mmh, now that you mention it, I don’t remember seeing him in the last few days” Elizabeth answered.

“No one has” Mary-Beth sighted “I’m getting worried. He’s gone missing and no one seems to care. They all think he ran away, back to the O’Driscoll... But I know he didn’t. Something’s wrong” Mary-Beth admitted, getting more anxious. 

“I’m gonna ask Micah, maybe he saw something. Don’t worry, I’m sure he ain’t too far” Elizabeth said, trying to comfort her friend.

“Thanks“ Mary-Beth whispered as she sat at the camp fire, looking defeated.

Elizabeth quickly finished her chopping before looking for Micah. She found him behind the house, walking around with his rifle.

“You good?” Micah asked when he noticed her, surprised to see her wandering around here.

“Yeah. Just wanted to ask if you’ve seen Kieran those days? No one has and Mary-Beth’s worried” Elizabeth asked as she walked beside Micah.

He thought a bit before answering.

“Nope, haven’t seen him neither. Maybe he just left” he shrugged.

“Everyone said that too. But I don’t think he would have left like that. He would have...” she started but got interrupted by a scream coming from the other side of the house. 

They both stopped, looking at each other in confusion before they heard gunshots.

“Fuck! You go hide in the house!” Micah said as he looked towards the house with his brows furrowed.

“But you...” Elizabeth tried to say.

“Now!” Micah shouted as he looked at her with a serious expression, and worried in his eyes. 

She simply nodded and ran towards the house while Micah went to help the others.

“Shit” she muttered. The first door she tried was locked, already barricaded from inside. 

She walked carefully around the house to reach another door. She raised her arm to open it, but was violently tackled to the ground before she could. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” the O’Driscoll who tackled her asked as he tried to pine her to the ground.

“Let go of me!” Elizabeth screamed as she tried to hit him, feeling dizzy from the impact. 

“A pretty thing like you, I’m not letting you go anywhere” the man said with a worrying smirk.

As he held both her wrists above her head with one hand, his other was running down her waist to reached her hips, which he squeezed hardly. Elizabeth managed to quickly free one of her hand and hit the man on the head. The O’Driscoll lost his balance and Elizabeth took the chance to run for help.

“You bitch!” the man shouted, angry.

She almost reached the other side of the house, but the man grabbed her and threw her against the wall before putting his hand around her neck.

“What now uh?!” the man said menacingly, squeezing Elizabeth’s neck harder.

Elizabeth started to panicked. It was getting really hard to breath and her vision was getting blurry. She suddenly remembered the engraved knife she hided in the back of her dress. The O’Driscoll turned his head a second after he heard a close noise. Elizabeth took the opportunity to reach for her knife, and stuck it deep in the throat of her assailant. 

The man gasped as he let go of Elizabeth, who was still holding her knife in the man’s throat. As he fell in his knee, she removed her knife, looking at the man choking on his own blood. When he fell flat on the floor, lifeless, Elizabeth’s legs gave up. She sat on the floor, still holding the knife tightly in her hands, covered in blood and trembling.

When the shooting stopped and the rest of the O’Driscoll ran away, Micah hurried inside to look for Elizabeth. He asked everyone, but no one has seen her. He searched every single room before going outside. As he walked around the house, he noticed a bloody body on the floor. He approached carefully and finally saw Elizabeth. When he saw her, covered in blood and a blank expression on her face, his eyes widened as he kneeled quickly in front of her.

“Elizabeth! You’re alright?” he asked urgently as he took her face in his hands.

The contact took her out of her trance. As her eyes met his, a terrified expression appeared on her face.

“What have I done?” she sobbed, looking at the dead O’Driscoll.

“It’s alright, sweetheart. It’s over. You did what you had to” Micah gently said as he took the knife from her trembling hands “Now let’s get you cleaned up a bit” he added as he helped her get up and led her to his tent.

He sat her on the bed and quickly went to grab a bowl of water. He carefully cleaned her hands while whispering soft comforting words, telling her that is was okay, that she did nothing wrong. When he was done, he helped her out of her dress and gave her one of his shirt. The black one she tore and fixed when she first joined them.

“You should sleep a bit” he said gently.

She was still in shock. She only nodded and lay on the bed, still a worry expression on her face. Micah brushed her cheek with his hand before she grabbed it and hold it as she closed her eyes. Micah looked at her until her breath became more regular and peaceful. He carefully removed his hand form hers and stepped outside, lighting a cigarette.

He had an idea in his mind, for a little while now. And after today event, everything was clear. He would not allow something like this to happen to her again. He finished his cigarette and headed towards Mary-Beth.

“Could look after Elizabeth while I’m out for a bit?” Micah asked awkwardly. He was not used of asking favors.

“Sure” Mary-Beth smiled sadly.

Micah only nodded as he left to the hitching post.

***

It was almost night time when Elizabeth woke up. She stretched her sore body as she noticed Mary-Beth beside her.

“How are you feeling?” Mary-Beth gently asked.

“A bit better...” she shrugged as she sat “What happened earlier? I just heard gunshot and a man jumped at me out of nowhere” Elizabeth asked, still confused.

“The O’Driscoll. They attacked us. They killed Kieran...” she said quietly as she lowered her head.

Elizabeth did not know what to say. She looked at her friend, speechless. 

“You’re okay?” Elizabeth whispered as she put her hand on top of Mary-Beth’s.

“He didn’t deserve this. What they’ve done to him. He was such a gentle soul” Mary-Beth said as a tear rolled down her cheek. She quickly removed it with her hand “Anyway, I’m the one supposed to take care of you, Micah’s order. Wanna eat something?” she added with a weak smile.

“Yeah” Elizabeth said as she stood up. She realized she was still wearing Micah’s shirt, and her dress was full of blood. 

“Uh, could you perhaps...” Elizabeth started awkwardly. 

“Right away” Mary-Beth chuckled before exiting the tent. 

She came back quickly with a dress and Elizabeth changed. As they both stepped outside the tent, Elizabeth took Mary-Beth hand, which made Mary-Beth look at her.

“We both take care of each other, don’t forget it” Elizabeth said with a gentle smile. Mary-Beth simply smiled, and they went to eat something together. 

When Micah came back to camp, Elizabeth was sitting near the fire, talking with other people. He quietly sat next to her with a beer. She smiled when she noticed him and slightly leaned against him.

“Thank you” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the dancing flames.

“What for?” Micah asked as he looked at her.

“For this morning, and everything else” she added as she closed her eyes, enjoying the soft sound of the crackling fire and light conversations. 

“Everything for you, sweetheart” he whispered as he discreetly put his arm around her waist. Usually he was not too fond of affection’s gestures, especially not at camp. But he thought that he could make an exception for tonight.

Later, most people turned in for the night. Elizabeth and Micah did the same. Micah was a bit disappointed when Elizabeth headed towards her tent, but he understood that she probably needed time on her own. He entered his tent and started to take off his clothes. He sighted slightly when he saw the shirt he lend to Elizabeth this morning, neatly folded on the chair. He lay down on his bed, looking at the ceiling. The night was going to be lonely. 

He closed his eyes, and a few minutes later, he heard the canvas of his tent opened. He looked at the entrance and was surprised to see Elizabeth with a bag full in her arms.

“Can I stay here for the night?” she asked shyly, looking at him with uncertain eyes. 

Sure they have already slept together in the same tent, but they were always circumstances. Today was a bit different. 

“Sure” Micah answered as he looked at her.

She quickly put down her bag and changed her clothes for Micah’s shirt, the one she wore earlier.

“You really like that one, uh?” Micah asked with a smirk. 

“I do” Elizabeth softly answered as she lay beside him, putting her head in his shoulder and letting her body relax. 

“What’s in the bag?” Micah asked after a few seconds.

“Uhm, well, this morning you said I could bring some of my things, so I took some clothes, for tomorrow” Elizabeth explained, a bit tensed to have been too hasty.

“Good, it’ll be simpler in the morning” Micah said as he kissed Elizabeth’s forehead. She instantly relaxed, a smile on her lips as she felt herself gave up to sleep.

Micah listened to her steady breath, slowly falling asleep as well.

***

When Elizabeth woke up the next morning, Micah had already left the tent. She stretched her body and dressed quickly. It sure was useful not to have to sneak back to her tent to get ready. She stepped outside and went to drink a coffee.

“Hey, I heard what happened yesterday. You’re alright?” Javier asked as he came to stand beside Elizabeth, also a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Yeah, thanks. Yesterday was a bit hard, but I understand that I couldn’t live this life as a fairytale. I still feel a bit bad to have killed that man...” she said the last part in a murmur, barely audible.

“It was you or him. They were not nice men. They came to kill us all. You did what you had to” Javier told her with a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

“Thanks again Javier” she smile at him.

“De nada, querida” Javier answered with a wink before emptying his cup and saying goodbye.

When she was done, she went to pet the horses for a moment. She liked their company, she found it relaxing. As she gave Baylock a sugar cube, Arthur was mounting his horse.

“Miss” he greeted her as he tipped his hat.

“Arthur. Where are you heading” she asked as she smiled at him.

“Meeting with Dutch and Lenny at the trolley bus station. There’s supposed to have a lot of cash there” Arthur explained, not seeming too convinced.

“You’re gonna rob the place?” Elizabeth asked, though she already knew the answer.

“Dutch’s orders” Arthur answered as he rolled his eyes slightly.

Elizabeth chuckled as Arthur nodded at her and left. She then walked towards the house and met Micah.

“Ah you’re here! I have a few things to buy in town, wanna come with me?” he asked her.

“Sure!” Elizabeth said with a bright smile. 

They headed towards the horses and left in direction of Saint-Denis. They stopped in front of the gunsmith shop and dismounted. 

“Stay here with Baylock would you” Micah said with a little smirk. 

Elizabeth thought it was a bit strange but agreed. Furthermore, she did not really have a lot of interest for this shop. 

Micah came out a few minutes later.

“Here. For you” he said he presented her a little package.

“For me? Thanks” Elizabeth said, a bit unsure, as she took the package, trying to guess what could be inside.

“Open it” Micah added, amused by her behavior.

Elizabeth opened the bag and took out a pretty leather scabbard, with a feather pattern on it. She looked at it with wide eyes.

“Micah, you shouldn’t have. It’s beautiful” she said as she looked at him with an adoring expression.

“Let me help you put it on” he said as he took the scabbard and knelt in front of her to put it around her hips. She could swear she saw a light blush on his face, despite it being hidden under his white hat.

“You have you knife?” he asked as he dared to look up at her.

She smile and gave it to him. He put it in the scabbard and stood up, looking at Elizabeth with a smirk.

“I knew that’ll look good on you” he said.

“I like it a lot. Though I really hope I’m not gonna need to use this knife again” she said with a little laugh.

“I promised you I won’t let anything like that happen to you again. Never” Micah said as he took Elizabeth by her waist and pulled her closer.

She could only smile warmly at him as she put her arms around his neck and reached his lips with hers to share a tender kiss. But the sweet moment was soon interrupted by a group of lawmen, running down the street. They both looked at each other in confusion. When they heard gunshots, Elizabeth remembered.

“The trolley station! Arthur went there with Dutch” she said with wide eyes.

“We better get out of here then, and quick” Micah said as he took her by the shoulder and led her to the opposite direction of the shooting. He whistled briefly and trotting hoofs soon were heard.

“Shouldn’t we go and help them?” Elizabeth asked while mounting Baylock.

“Bad idea” Micah answered simply before hurrying Baylock out of the city.

***

Back at camp, they waited for Dutch and the other two to come back. Elizabeth was doing some chores, worried after seeing this many lawmen heading their way.  
When they came back, it was clear something went wrong. They all looked beaten up, and Dutch and Arthur were pretty angry.

“This Bronte! If he think he can make a fool out of me without consequences, he is wrong. So damn wrong!” Dutch said as he dismounted his horse.

Everyone was looking at him as he reached the old house.

“I’ll think of a good payback for our Italian friend. He’s gonna regret his foolishness. But now I need a rest, I don’t feel so good.” Dutch said to Arthur as he disappeared behind the door.

Arthur sighted and walked toward the fire where Elizabeth was sat.

“What happened?” Elizabeth asked while Arthur was lighting a cigarette.

“Bronte set us up. There was nothing at the trolley station and a whole bunch of lawmen were quickly waiting for us outside. I knew I hated the man” Arthur explained, puffing a cloud of smoke. 

“So that was really for you the commotion we heard back then” Elizabeth said a bit horrified. 

“You were in town too?” Arthur asked, a bit concerned.

“We had a few errands to run with Micah. But we came back as soon as we heard the shooting” Elizabeth answered quickly to ease his worry.

“Mmh. Good” Arthur simply answered. He was surprised that Micah hadn’t rushed to take part of the shooting.

“You changed him” he then added quietly.

“Who?” Elizabeth asked, surprised by what Arthur said.

“Micah. And in a good way. Didn’t think it was possible” he explained as he looked at Elizabeth. She simply smiled at him.

The rest of the day went as usual. When the night fell, Elizabeth found Micah in his tent, cleaning his guns. He simply smirked when he saw her entered the tent. 

“I heard something very interesting today” she started, dismissively, removing her boots.

“Mmh” Micah said absent-mindedly, still cleaning his gun.

“Something about you” she added as she straddled his laps, making him look at her with more intention.

“And what was it?” he asked as he put down his guns and put his hands on Elizabeth waist.

“That you’re starting to be a good man” she said playfully, biting her bottom lips as she got closer to Micah, putting her arms around his neck.

“Nonsense” Micah scoffed as he captured Elizabeth lips for a rough and passionate kiss. Elizabeth chuckled slightly before returning the kiss. She really loved this obstinate side of him.

But he knew. He knew very well he was getting soft. And it was all because of Elizabeth. But he will not admit it out loud. So instead, this night, Micah was particularly teasing and rough. Just to remind her he was still a ruthless outlaw. And she was not complaining at all.


	14. Chapter 14

It has been two days since the trolley bus station incident. Dutch, with the help of Arthur, has found a man with a boat willing to take them behind Bronte’s manor.

They left at dusk with Bill, John and Micah. They met the man in Lagras and embarked on his boat in direction of Bronte’s manor. There was a lot of shooting, the law ended up showing up too, but the Van der Linde’ men managed to escape, taking Bronte with them. After a heated discussion with Bronte, Dutch ended up drowning the man and threw to body to the alligator. 

“Jesus! What part of you philosophy books cover feeding a feller to a goddamn alligator, Dutch?” John asked. Arthur and Micah were also looking at him, shocked of their leader’s actions.

“The part that covers weakness. That part” Dutch answered.

“I don’t know” John started but was cut by Dutch.

“Well I do! It ain’t nice, I know it. But it is us or him. I figure it might as well be him” Dutch concluded before walking away, leaving to three men there, in silence.

John left with a sight as Arthur and Micah were contemplating the blood appearing in the water. They then looked at each other, a lot of uncertainty in their eyes.

They headed back to camp silently. It was still quiet, the sun was only starting to rise. Micah walked towards his tent and entered it. Elizabeth was sleeping peacefully. Micah smiled weakly when he saw she was wearing his shirt, again.

He sat on the chair next to the bed and started to think. Dutch’s behavior was still on his mind. It was so unlike him to kill in cold blood like this. And his new idea to leave, to go to Tahiti. Micah could not agree with that. He did not want to run away.

He sighted and thought more. They were going to rob a bank. Surely with this much money he could... with her. Would she accept? He looked at her, carefully removing a strand of hair from her face. Yeah, maybe she would.

He stood up with a huff and stepped outside to sit at the camp fire to clean his guns. He would not be able to sleep now. He just looked at the rising sun, lost in his thoughts. 

***

When Elizabeth woke up a few hours later, she was surprised to find the bed empty. She sat and looked around when she heard voices outside the tent. She stood up and got dressed before exiting the tent. She found Micah and Dutch talking.

“We’re doing it this afternoon. We have to act quickly now” Dutch said as he looked up at Elizabeth. “Ah, Miss Forcier, as beautiful as always” he added with his usual charismatic smile before saying his goodbye and leaving. 

“You’re alright? How did it go yesterday?” she asked softly as she followed Micah inside the tent.

“I guess it went well considering none of us got shot and Bronte’s dead” Micah said as he removed his hat and coat and started to undo his shirt.

“What does that supposed to mean?” Elizabeth asked as she came closer to him and helped him with his buttons. Micah let her do it as he sighted.

“Don’t know... it’s the way Dutch did it I suppose” Micah started quietly “he drowned him and threw him in the water, to be eaten by alligator... it’s just not like him” he finished, his brows furrowed.

“You know him better than I do, but it sure feel a bit cruel” Elizabeth simply answered as she let him took off his shirt and gave him a clean one. He put it on and she did the buttons.

“And all this thing about Tahiti or whatever... I don’t want to end up on an unknown island, playing the little farmer. I belong here. On those lands” Micah said, sounding more defeated after each words.

“And what do you want to do?” Elizabeth asked gently as she adjusted his collar. 

Micah stayed silent a moment, looking at her, thinking about if he should tell her. She smiled at him so softly, he felt his heart squeeze a bit.

“We’re robbing the bank today. If everything goes well, we’re gonna have a lot of money. I thought it could be the opportunity to leave and... don’t know, start something else, with you” he finished his sentence in a mumble, looking at the floor. 

Elizabeth, surprised, was silent for a while. Micah looked at her, worried to have said something wrong. 

“Is it a bad idea?” he asked, unsure of Elizabeth’s expression.

“No. But I thought it was not something for you, to live a simple, honest life” Elizabeth said, now a bit confused.

“That used to be the case, but now. I don’t really know what’s going on, but what I know is that I want to be with you. But not in Tahiti or some fucking random places. I just want you and me, somewhere nice and quiet” Micah explained as he took Elizabeth’s hands in his.

“I would love that too” she answered as she smiled at him.

“One last job and we can have it” he said as he kissed her forehead.

Micah finished getting changed. Elizabeth smiled as she recognized his costume. It was the same he wore when they first met in Blackwater.

“Looking mighty handsome” she said as she arranged his hair a bit, and placed her hands behind his neck. 

Micah only looked at her with a serious expression.

“You be safe and come back unharmed, alright?” she added as she looked at him with a slightly worried expression, trying her best to hide it.

“I will, sweetheart” he quietly said as he leaned to capture her lips in the most tender kiss.

They pulled away and headed in front of the house where everyone was getting ready to leave. Elizabeth wished them good luck and exchanged one last glance with Micah before they left towards the city.

***

It has been days since the men left for their big job. The rest of the gang knew something was wrong when no one was back when the night fell. Their worries got confirmed when Charles rushed back and told them they had to move and quickly. With the help of Sadie, they moved everyone to a little abandoned place called Lakay. Now everyone was waiting.

It has been hard, to move this quickly, to such an unpleasant place. And not to know what happened to the rest of the men. They did their best to survive.  
Elizabeth was worried sick when Charles came back with the bad news. She wondered where they ended up after taking their boat, and if they will ever come back. If she will ever see Micah again.

One day, she was outside, tending to the horses. The ones that were in town that day fortunately found their way back to camp. Since then, Elizabeth spent a lot of time with them, especially with Baylock. She was petting him when the horse got a bit agitated and started to trample the ground.

“Ssh. What is it boy?” she tried to calm the horse. She suddenly heard a noise coming from the ground. She put her hand on her knife and moved carefully to see who was coming.

She froze completely when she saw him, standing in front of her, looking tired and dirty. Her trembling hands came to her mouth as she let out a shaking breathe. Micah looked at her, a relieved smile on his face.

“I’m back, sweetheart” he simply said.

It was enough to take Elizabeth out of her trance. She walked towards the man, slowly, not daring to make any sudden moves. When she was finally in front of him, she reached his cheeks with her hands. She looked at him, not able to believe he was finally here, in front of her.

“I’m back” he repeated tiredly, taking her wrists in his hands gently, running circles on her skin with his thumbs. 

“You’re back” she sighted, a wild smile appearing on her lips as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him in a tight hug. 

Micah answered by putting his arms around her waist and holding her tightly.

“I missed you so much. I was so scared” she said with a shaky voice as she hid her face in the crook of his neck.

“Me too, I’m sorry” he whispered, rubbing her back in a comforting way.

They stayed like this a moment, just enjoying each other’s warmth before Elizabeth stepped away a little to look at him.

“Come inside, you must be hungry” she said as she took his hand and led him inside.

After he ate, and answered the questions the other members asked him, Micah cleaned himself and put on some clean clothes before meeting with Elizabeth outside the crowded cabin. He found her behind another cabin, leaning against the railing.

“Feeling better?” she asked with a smile as she faced him.

“Much better, yeah” Micah said as he took her by the hips and pulled her closer.

“I hope the others will find their way here too” Elizabeth said as she looked at the deep swamp surrounding them, her hands on his chest.

“I’m sure they will. They’re smart, they’ll found us. Though maybe not Bill” Micah said with a smirk.

Elizabeth chuckled as she gently slapped his chest before wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I thought about you a lot when we were on that island. Wondered if you were alright” Micah said quietly, gently stroking her waist.

“You were in a much more dangerous situation than I was” she said with a small smile, which quickly disappeared. There was a moment of silence before Elizabeth spoke again, her voice trembling.

“When Charles came back that day... When he told us what happened... I thought I would never see you again... I was so scared” her voice broke at the end as she leaned her forehead against his chest.

“I know. I’m sorry. But I’m back, and I’m not leaving you again” he said as he took her chin between his fingers and lifted her head to look at her in the eyes “Never   
again, you hear me?”

She nodded, her eyes glistening. Micah leaned down to kiss her, very gently. Elizabeth answered to the kiss, her hold on his neck getting tighter. Micah broke the kiss to look at her, which she answered with a quizzical look.

“I love you Elizabeth. We’re gonna be okay, I promise” he said, barely above a murmur.

“I love you too” she answered with a soft smile, reaching for his lips once again.

This time, the kiss was more needy, more passionate. They held each other as close as they could. When Micah’s lips attacked Elizabeth’s neck, a soft moan escaped her lips as her head fell back to provide him more access. The sound made a smirk appeared on Micah’s face. Now he wanted to hear more of those. He lifted her with ease and made a few steps toward a wooden box, where he gently sat her, not leaving her neck during the whole process. Micah was now standing between Elizabeth’s legs, his hands caressing her legs, slowly pulling up her skirt.

When Micah has full access to Elizabeth’s naked legs, he captured her lips again. He then pulled her against him, allowing her to feel his hard part as he rolled his hips against hers, which made a second loud moan came out of her mouth. She looked at him with eyes full of desire as she grabbed his belt and started to undo the buckle. Micah quickly removed his coat before removing Elizabeth undergarment. They shared a lingering kiss as Micah was pressing his tip at her entrance and pushed into her. They both let out muffled moans as Micah stilled for a bit before starting to move. Elizabeth has her arms around his shoulders, hiding her face in his neck to try to muffle her moans. Micah was holding her tightly by the hips as his thrusts became more rough and strong. Elizabeth let out a gasp when he reached her sensitive spot, her head rolling backward. It did not take much longer for the both of them to reach their climax, hers triggering his as she tightened around him. Micah groaned, his lips on her neck as his hips buckled a few more time before stopping.

They stayed like this while catching their breath, Elizabeth fingers drowned in his hair as she leaned her head against his, still hidden in the crook of her neck. They then both stood up and got dressed quickly and started to walk toward the main cabin. Before entering, Micah stopped Elizabeth.

“I promise you I’m gonna make things better. Leaving the gang, you and me, it’s still gonna happen” he said as he looked at her with a serious expression.

“I know” she simply answered before gently kissing him. 

When they entered the house, they noticed a gathering in the middle of the cabin. They quickly understood it was Arthur who has returned. Everyone was happy to see him. Next were Javier and then Dutch. Abigail was explaining how they had buried Hosea and Lenny when Bill crashed into the cabin, in a terrible mood after having search for the gang with great difficulties. After a little fight between moody Bill and Sadie, they heard a voice outside.

“This is Agent Milton with the Pinkerton Detective Agency” Milton shouted from outside “On behalf of Cornwall Kerosene and Tar, the United States Government and the Commonwealth of West Elizabeth, we are here to arrest you” Milton continued as everyone in the cabin was getting ready.

“Come out with your hands up” agent Milton added.

Micah looked at Elizabeth, who was already looking at him, her eyes full of worried.

“Go hide in the back, and stay low” Micah quickly whispered to Elizabeth. She simply nodded as she went to hide.

A few seconds later, the Pinkerton shot the cabin with a machine gun. 

“Everyone get down!” Dutch shouted as holes were pierced all over the room.

“Argh! Asked everyone you could find did you, Bill?” Micah asked as he crawled against a wall.

The next few minutes felt like hours for Elizabeth. She was curled up in a corner, her head in her hands, closing her eyes and covering her ears to try to tone down the sound of the machine gun. She gasped and opened her eyes wide when she felt someone touching her. 

“It’s over, can you stand?” Mary-Beth asked softly as she took her hand to help her stand up.

“Thanks” Elizabeth whispered as she looked around. 

They went outside to meet with the others.

“You saved us, Arthur” Dutch said as he approached the man.

“Well, me and Bill and Sadie” Arthur said before coughing.

“You okay, son?” Dutch asked. 

“Sure” Arthur answered as he stood up straight again.

Elizabeth noticed Micah and walked towards him as he was finishing one of Milton’s men. He wiped his knife on his shirt before looking at Elizabeth and silently asking her if she was okay. She nodded and walked close to him as they approached Dutch and Arthur.

“What do we do Dutch?” Arthur asked as he caught up his breath.

“Clearly, we need to leave. It’ll take them some time to regroup. Mister Pearson, Miss Grimshaw, start packing up. Javier, you and Bill, get outta here. Go scare off any scum still loitering about. We need a couple of days. Now! Please, gentlemen” Dutch ordered. The mentioned persons got in motion.

“What’s next, Dutch?” Arthur asked.

“We just need some time. I just... I... I need some time. Now we can’t go east, ‘cos then we’ll be in the ocean, so we’re gonna have to go north, I guess? I just need somebody to buy me some goddamn time, one of you” Dutch said as he hit the wagon he was leaned against.

The sudden burst of anger surprised Elizabeth, who took a step back. Micah noticed it and gently took her hand, discreetly. 

“You’ll figure it out, boss. You always do” Micah tried to reassure Dutch.

Then Abigail asked about John. The poor man was in jail since the bank job. But Dutch dismissed her as he headed towards the cabin. Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief, just as Abigail did. She exchanged a quick glance with Micah, who also looked surprised by Dutch behavior. Abigail then asked Arthur and Sadie for their helps.

“Come, we should sleep” Micah put his hand on Elizabeth back and pushed her towards the cabin. 

***

The next day, Elizabeth was sitting against one of the cabin, looking at the river full of crocodiles when Micah came to sit next to her.

“Dutch send Arthur and Charles to clean up some place in Roanoke Ridge to settle the new camp” Micah said as he lit up a cigarette. 

“Hope it’s nicer than here” Elizabeth said as she leaned against Micah’s shoulders.

“I’m not sure about that” Micah said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke “Dutch want me to do some reconnaissance with him” he added, more grimly.

Elizabeth looked at him in silence.

“Reconnaissance about what?” she finally asked.

“Don’t know. Something for his great plan probably” he shrugged.

“What’s going on with him lately?” Elizabeth asked after a moment of silence.

“It has been hard on all of us. I guess it’s just gotten to his head. He ain’t the man he used to be” he said as he finished his cigarette and threw it into the river.

“Just be careful. Don’t get dragged into something you won’t be able to get out of” she told him as she looked at him seriously, her brows slightly furrowed with worries.

“I’ll be careful, don’t worry” he comforted her as he kissed her forehead and stood up.

She looked at him as he walked towards Dutch, who was already waiting for him. She sighted heavily, wondering where this man was going to lead them all.


	15. Chapter 15

Charles came back a few hours later to guide the rest of the gang to Beaver Hollow, the new location for their camp. The place was horrifying to Elizabeth. They found remains of all kind of human body parts, and no one really dared to enter the cave. In the middle of the afternoon, the camp was done and Dutch and Micah came back. He saw Elizabeth sitting by the fire and joined her.

“Charming place” he said sarcastically as he sat beside her.

“I liked the swamp better” she sighted as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

This moment of peace was interrupted by someone shouting. 

“So Dutch, did you miss me?!” Molly shouted, staggering toward Dutch.

“What is it now?” Elizabeth whispered to Micah as they both stood up to see what was going on.

“I found her, drunk in Saint Denis” Uncle said, walking behind her.

“You’re back. How jolly, Miss O’Shea” Dutch said as he looked at her mockingly. 

“It’s Molly, you sack of shit!” she screamed at his face.

It was then a loud monologue from Molly, talking drunken nonsense as Dutch tried to calm her. At this point, everyone has gathered around her. But it turned for the worst when Molly said she told the Pinkerton Detective about the bank robbery in Saint Denis. Dutch took out his gun, with Arthur by his side trying to ease him. Micah instinctively put himself in front of Elizabeth when he saw a gun out.

“Oh, not so big now, are we your majesty?!” she shouted even louder than before.  
“You...” Dutch started, but before he could finished, a loud BANG was heard.

Molly took a few steps back before collapsing in the ground, wounded.

“She knew the rules, Arthur. What the hell is wrong with you?” Miss Grimshaw said, a gun in her hand. She then ordered everyone to get back to work with an angry voice.

Micah walked away, not wanting to attract Miss Grimshaw’s wrath but he stopped when he noticed Elizabeth was not following. He turned around and saw her, looking at Molly’s body with a mix of horror and sadness on her face. He sighed as he walked back to her and took her hand to attract her attention. 

“Let’s go out of here for a while, mmh?” he says gently as he rubbed his arm in a comforting way.

“Weren’t you suppose to speak with Dutch about your visit in town?” she said flatly.

“I’m sure it can wait a bit. I know a nice place not too far. You’d like that?” Micah said as he looked at Dutch’s closed tent and then back at Elizabeth.

“Yeah, a lot...” she said, looking at Micah with a tired expression, but a small smile crept on her lips.

“Go wait for me with Baylock, I’ll gather a few things” he told her as he put his white hat on her head.

Elizabeth smiled faintly and headed towards the hitching post, adjusting the hat on her head. She gave a sugar cube to the horse, which looked a bit uneasy too.

“You don’t like this place neither, uh?” she said as she ran her hand on the horse head.

“Miss” she heard from behind her. It was Arthur who was mounting his horse. 

“You’re heading out?” she asked as she looked at the man. She noticed he looked more tired lately, and lost a lot of weight too.

“Meeting with Sadie in Saint Denis, about Marston” he answered before nodding and leaving.

She looked again at Baylock and saw Micah walking toward her with another horse on which he has already loaded some bags.

“We’ll need a saddle for this one” Elizabeth said when she saw the second horse.

“No need, it’s quite loaded like this. You’ll ride with me” Micah said as he mounted Baylock and presented her his hand.

“You always have a good excuse, don’t you?” she said with a smile, bigger than before, as she took his hand and climbed behind him. Micah only smirked as they rode out of camp.

“So, where are you taking me?” Elizabeth asked, already feeling better just being out of this awful place.

“You’ll see” Micah simply answered, looking above his shoulder to see her pouting face.

They rode for a while through a forest. It was relaxing, hearing the noise of water and animals roaming around. Elizabeth closed her eyes, enjoying her surrounding and the warmth of the afternoon.

“Look, we’re here” she heard Micah say. She opened her eyes and a big, bright smile appeared on her face.

In front of them was a beautiful lake with a little island in the middle of it. Micah stopped the horses on the shore and dismounted before helping Elizabeth. 

“You like it?” he asked as he adjusted his hat on Elizabeth’s head.

“I love it” she said as she looked around her “Thank you” she was now facing him, a soft smile on her face as she leaned to press a tender kiss on Micah’s lips, holding the hat on her head. 

Micah then stood there, looking at her as she removed her shoes and walked toward the water. It was colder than the Flat Iron Lake, so Elizabeth only had the water up her ankles. She took a deep breath and sighted loudly, enjoying the scenery and the warmth of the late afternoon sun.

Micah lit up a cigarette as he was still looking at her. He thought about the last few weeks and the choices he had to make, especially the one he faced after returning from Guarma. He doubted it a lot at first, especially given the gang’s situation. But when he saw her like this, calm and happy, he knew he made the right choice, for her. He hoped she will understand.

He discarded his cigarette and started to set up their little camp for the night. It was now Elizabeth turn to look at him. She could not stop the smile creeping on her face as she looked at him carefully lighting the fire and laying a blanket just in front of it. Everything around them seemed to be crashing down, Dutch, the gang in general. The law was also on their tail, and getting closer every day. But she thought that, as long as she had him by her side, she will be alright. She touched the hat on her head, closing her eyes a moment, before getting out of the water and joining Micah in front of the fire. He has just finished setting up the tent.

“So, what do you wanna eat? We have salted beef, canned salmon, some peas and corn. I even took canned peaches and chocolate for the desert” Micah said as he took out the food from a bag.

“My my! What a real feast we have here” Elizabeth said, quite amazed by everything he brought. 

“I also found a fine Brandy in Pearson’s wagon” he added, a grin on his face as he presented her the bottle.

“You outdid yourself today Mr. Bell” Elizabeth chuckled as she looked at the bottle with wide eyes.

“For you, my Lady” he said seductively as he took out two cup, in which he poured some Brandy.

“To this lovely night. Let’s forget about the rest. It’s just you and I tonight” Micah said as he raised his cup.

“To tonight” Elizabeth answered, also raising her cup.

They then drank, both of them enjoying the rich taste of the liquor.

“That’s good stuff” Elizabeth said, pointing towards to bottle.

“It sure is. Probably why it was so well hidden in the wagon” Micah said with a mischievous smile.

They drank and ate while sharing casual discussions. Elizabeth had removed Micah’s hat when the sun disappeared and had now her hair falling on her shoulders. Micah opened the canned peaches and put it between them.

“You said you had chocolate too, right?” Elizabeth asked suddenly.

“Yeah” Micah simply answered as he took out the chocolate bar from the bag.

“Give it to me. I’m gonna make you something delicious. Close your eyes now” Elizabeth added as she opened the chocolate.

Micah looked at her with furrowed brows, but rolled his eyes and closed them when she gave him a bossy look.

She broke the chocolate bar and put the pieces in her now empty cup. She then held it close to the fire, just to make the chocolate melt. She then poured the melted chocolate over the peaches.

“Now open your mouth. And keep your eyes closed” she ordered gently as she took a piece of peach between her fingers.

Micah did as asked, not without a little moment of confusion. 

“Taste this now” she said as she brought carefully the peach to his mouth.

Micah took it and ate it, his eyes still closed.

“So?” she asked.

“Mmh. Not bad” Micah said with a nod “Give me another one” he then said with a smirk, still not opening his eyes.

Elizabeth looked at him with an amused smile before giving another one. She was a bit less careful and put some chocolate on Micah’s mustache. She looked at it a moment while Micah was eating, and quietly got closer and straddled his hips. Micah opened his eyes, surprised, and instinctively put his hands on her hips as he looked at her quizzically. 

Without a word, she put her hands on his cheeks and leaned closer to his face, her gaze not leaving his mouth.

“I want a taste, too” she whispered before licking the chocolate off his mustache, her tongue sometime brushing his smirking lips.

She pulled her face away, looking at him as she licked any remains of chocolate off her lips.

“Tasted good?” Micah asked as he squeezed her hips.

“Delicious” she answered as she captured his lips for a proper, passionate kiss.

As the kiss heated, they both started to unbutton each other shirt. Elizabeth rolled her hips, making Micah groaned with pleasure, bucking his hips to gain more friction. When their shirts were off, Micah attacked her exposed skin, leaving dark marks all over her collarbone and neck, his hands still brushing her thighs. Elizabeth’s hand went from his neck to his pant, and she started to massage his growing bulge, making him groaned some more. She loved being to one to make him make those noises. She quickly undid his pant and underwear. She could felt her lower part twitch just from the sensation of him pulsating in her hand.

When Micah felt his end approaching too quickly, he kissed Elizabeth and lifted her to lay her on her back. He was now hovering over her, a lustful expression on his face.

“Ladies first” he said playfully with a head tilt.

Elizabeth only bit her lower lips while smiling as Micah was working in removing her skirt. He then captured her lips in a rough kiss as he pushed inside her without warning, his pant just below his hips. A loud gasp escaped her mouth, soon replaced with moans and content sighs. Micah continued with strong and deep thrusts until his name came out of Elizabeth’s mouth, her hold tightening around him. He rode her through her high and finished quickly after, burying his face in her neck with a final groan.

When they regained their breath, Micah rolled down beside Elizabeth and covered her with a blanket before fastening his pant. Elizabeth sat closer in front of the fire, soon followed by Micah, against who she leaned comfortably. They stayed silent, listening to the crackling and the sound of some small animal drinking nearby.   
Elizabeth had her eyes closed when she felt Micah moving a bit and then heard him chewing something. She looked up at him and realized he was eating the peach covered with chocolate from earlier. He must have felt her gaze because he glanced down at her.

“Want some?” he asked, hesitantly.

“Yes” Elizabeth chuckled as she took a piece of peach.

They ate the rest of the fruit while sharing small conversation before heading inside the tent to sleep.

***

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up alone in the tent, but she smelled a strong smell of fresh coffee. She stepped out and was welcomed with Micah already pouring two cups.

“Slept well?” he asked as he gave her one cup.

“Like a baby. You?” she said as she took the cup and hold it between her two hands.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I slept that well” he said while sipping his coffee.

They finished their drink before deciding they had to go back to camp. They packed up everything and left this amazing place.

The ride was silent. Neither of them really wanted to go back to the chaos to the gang right now. But they had to for now.

When they arrived at Beaver Hollow, they quickly unloaded the second horse.

“I have a few stuff to take care of, I’ll be back later” Micah said as he fed Baylock an apple and stroke his mane.

“Alright, be careful” Elizabeth said as she gave him a quick peck on the lips. 

Micah rode out as Elizabeth was feeding and brushing the horse they took on their little escape.

“So how was your runaway with Micah?” Javier asked bitterly, appearing from behind her.

“What’s your problem?” Elizabeth retorted, not liking his tone.

“I don’t know. Maybe I have a problem with traitor who start disappearing when thing get hard?” he said harshly, walking closer in a menacing way.

“Who’s a traitor here?! I’ve always been thankful for Dutch’s help, and I’ve done my share in the camp, still doing it. And it’s the same for Micah as long as you’re concerned, so don’t come talking to me about traitors and cowards!” Elizabeth let her rage out before turning her back and leaving towards Mary-Beth.

She sat with a heavy sight and started to fold angrily a poor shirt.

“You’re okay?” Mary-Beth asked gently.

Elizabeth looked at her friend, at her soft feature. She let out another sight before answering.

“I’m just sick of it. Everyone is tensed. Some doubt others’ faith. Dutch’s going mad. Everything is crumbling down” Elizabeth finished her sentence with a defeated look.

“We sure had easier times. But it’s gonna get better. I’m sure it will” Mary-Beth said as she put her hand on top of Elizabeth’s.

“I hope you’re right” she said with a small smile.

Later in the afternoon, she saw Arthur walking toward his tent and sitting heavily.

“You’re okay? You’re looking awfully tired” she asked as she sat beside him on his cot.

“Yeah, Sadie made me fly on a balloon, and things ended up a bit complicated” Arthur explained, starting to cough.

“Oh, Arthur” Elizabeth rubbed his back as he calmed down “What’s happening to you?”

When he regain his breath, Arthur bent, his elbows on his knees. 

“I’m dying” he sighted.

“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked, worried.

“I’ve seen a doctor this morning. Got tuberculosis. It ain’t good” he explained.

“My god. I’m sorry” she said as she put her hand on his arm in a comforting way.

“Now don’t you worry about me. Worry about you and your future. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but Dutch...” he started, but Elizabeth cut him.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed” she looked at him with a knowing look. 

“Good” Arthur simply answered as he removed his hat and his holster. 

Elizabeth took the hint and said goodbye to Arthur before leaving his tent. She saw Micah, who has just returned, talking to Sadie before walking toward the stew. He took a plate and went to sit at the camp fire. Elizabeth joined him and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Though day?” he asked, finishing his plate and tossing it aside.

“I already miss our little camp by the lake” Elizabeth sighted with a pouty face.

Micah chuckled as put his arm around her waist. They listened to some of Reverend Swanson blabbering before having enough and deciding to go to bed. When walking towards their shared tent, Elizabeth noticed Arthur going out of his tent discreetly and meeting Sadie near the horses. They quickly left the camp, unnoticed by the rest of the gang.

***

The next morning was like any others. Elizabeth was doing some chores with Mary-Beth and Tilly while Micah was talking with Dutch and Bill. Suddenly, two horses came into camp.

“You brought him back to me!” Abigail said as she ran out of her tent to meet Sadie and Arthur coming back with John.

“We told you we would” Sadie said.

All the attention was on them when a voice rang through the camp.

“John! What are you doing here!?” Dutch shouted as he walked towards them, followed by Micah and Bill. 

“It’s good to see you too, partner” John said sarcastically.

“I meant I hadn’t sent for you yet” Dutch added, anger clear in his voice.

“I went” Arthur said calmly, looking at Dutch with a challenging look.

“But I said that...” Dutch started but was cut by Arthur.

“Yeah, I know what you said. I felt different” he explained.

“Is that so?” Dutch asked bitterly.

“Yes” Arthur answered simply, putting himself right in front of Dutch.

“And when springing John brings the law down on all of us, what then, Arthur?” Dutch accused.

“Well, I guess we’ll have another fight in our hands” Arthur said, not taking his eyes off Dutch.

Dutch then explained that he had a plan, and that thanks to Arthur, the law will find them and hang them all, before retreating to his tent with Bill. Micah looked at Arthur who nodded at him, and left to join back the other two in Dutch’s tent.

Abigail took John with her in her tent, and Arthur headed in his, coughing a bit. Elizabeth walked towards him after taking some warm water and herbs.

“You did well, you and Sadie. Whatever Dutch says, you did the right thing” Elizabeth said as she gave him the cup of tea.

“Thanks” Arthur said as he sipped the warm drink “We were lucky Micah found us a boat though, I don’t think I would have endured a second ride of flying balloon” Arthur chuckled, making him cough some more.

“What?” Elizabeth looked at him confused.

“Micah’s the one who got us a boat. He told Sadie yesterday where he had hidden it. I was quite surprised. You really did wonder on him” Arthur explained, drinking some more tea.

“I see” Elizabeth said absent-mindedly “I’ll leave you rest, you deserve it. Finish the tea, I’ll make you more if you need” she said, earning a thankful nod from Arthur, before stepping outside. 

She could not believe Micah came out of his way to help someone, even less John. She smiled to herself, thinking how he really did change for the better. She saw him stepping outside Dutch’s tent and walking towards the scoot fire with a moody face. She walked happily towards him. As she stood in front of him with a gentle smile, Micah’s face softened a bit. She put her hands around his neck and kissed him tenderly. Micah answered the kiss while putting his hands around her waist. When she pulled her face away, Micah raised an eyebrow.

“You’re looking quite happy suddenly” Micah pointed out, still holding her close.

“Because I am. You’re making me happy” she said before capturing his lips again.

Micah wasn’t sure where this came from, but he was not going to complain. He smirked against her lips and kissed her back, both of them lost in their little temporary bubble of happiness.


	16. Chapter 16

After John’s return, Elizabeth spend the rest of the morning with Micah, going on a stroll near the river below the camp.

“I’ll have to meet Dutch in Annesburg this afternoon. Something to do with Cornwall” Micah sighted.

“This man again? Hasn’t he brought us enough problems yet?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a personal matter for Dutch now I guess” Micah shrugged, rolling his eyes.

“And how does he even know he’s in Annesburg?” Elizabeth asked again.

“Bill said he heard someone talked about it on his way back after Guarma” Micah said, not knowing exactly himself. 

They walked some more, enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest, before getting back to camp.

Micah left in the afternoon for Annesburg with Dutch and Arthur. Elizabeth was now helping Pearson with the stew, but it was really more listening to Pearson’s drunk and desperate blabbering about their situation. She cut the vegetable as quick as she could before putting them in the pot on the fire. She then briefly apologized to Pearson, saying she as other chores to do.

A few hours later, Elizabeth was playing with Jack when she saw the three men returned. Dutch went straight to his tent, papers in hand. She then saw Arthur walking in his tent, sitting on his cot with a sight as he took out his precious journal. Elizabeth then looked around to find Micah at the hitching posts, brushing Baylock. 

“How did it go with Cornwall?” she asked gently as she stood next to him.

Micah looked at her with a moody face. He fed Baylock a sugar cube before answering.

“Dutch killed him. We found some papers and shot our way out of town. Very discreet” he said with a sarcastic tone. 

“And those papers? What are they?” Elizabeth asked, following Micah as he walked toward the coffee pot.

“Dunno. Something about some bonds. And others about dynamite” he said briefly as he poured a cup of coffee and offered it to Elizabeth, she took it with a thankful nod as Micah poured himself another one.

“You think it’s gonna help Dutch in his great plan?” Elizabeth said, a bit mockingly in the last part.

“I fucking hope so” he said as he sat in front of the camp fire, drinking his coffee.

Elizabeth gently put her hand on his arm, looking at him with a warm smile.

“I just want us out of this mess” he said quietly as he took her hand in his and brushed it with his thumb.

“I know” Elizabeth simply answered as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

She noticed that lately, Micah wasn’t bothered by those affectionate gestures in publics anymore. He just let it happened. Even when Charles came to sit in front of us with a polite nod, he didn’t budge, except to nod back.

They stayed like this, silent, in this tensed atmosphere surrounding the camp for a while before Dutch called out Micah. He stood up with a sight as Elizabeth offered him an encouraging smile.

“Micah, I need you to look into this dynamite with Bill. Take Arthur too I guess. We are gonna need a lot of it”

“We’ll meet at the old house west of Van Horn tomorrow” Bill said as he put his rifle on his back.

“Sure, boss” Micah muttered as Dutch went to speak with Arthur and Bill walked away.

“So?” Elizabeth joined Micah, looking at Dutch in Arthur’s tent.

“Dutch want us to steal Cornwall’s dynamite, a lot of it. Don’t know why though” Micah said, not overjoyed by this plan.

Elizabeth furrowed her brows, not liking the sound of it either. She then noticed Charles walking with someone in the camp, escorted by Javier and Karen.

“Excuse me for interrupting” Charles said as they walked toward Dutch and Arthur.

Dutch and Arthur stood up to face the intruder while Micah and Elizabeth came closer.

“What’s a Redskin doing here” Micah asked in a defensive way.

“Micah” Elizabeth said as she looked at him reproachfully.

Micah looked at her and did not say anything.

“I brought a friend, Arthur” Charles said as Arthur went to shake hand with Eagle Flies. 

“Dutch, this is Eagle Flies, his father is a great chief, Charles and I we erm...” Arthur presented the man to Dutch. 

“Pretended to be mercenaries, did me a great favor” Eagle Flies finished Arthur sentence. 

Dutch then introduced himself and Eagle Flies told us the infantry division in Fort Wallace took their horses. Charles tried to dissuade Eagle Flies to act recklessly, but Dutch agreed to help him get his horses back. Charles and Arthur went with them too.

“Is this part of his plan too?” Elizabeth asked, not understanding Dutch’s behavior.

“Probably” Micah scoffed, shaking his head.

***

The night has fallen on the camp. Elizabeth woke up early, the sun was still hidden. She found the bed already empty. She got dressed and walked outside to spot Micah near the scout fire, cleaning his guns.

“Already up?” she said as she slowly approached him.

“Yeah, I don’t sleep so well lately” Micah said with a tired voice.

“Want me to grab you some coffee” Elizabeth asked.

“No. No, come here” Micah said as he put his gun away and patted his lap, looking at her with a small smirk.

Elizabeth chuckled and came to sit on his lap. She put her hands around his neck as his went around her waist and on her hip. Elizabeth put her head against his chest as he was gently caressing her thigh, both enjoying some gentle contact.

“I’m gonna keep my promise, you know” Micah broke the silence, just murmuring.

“Mmh?” Elizabeth asked, not sure what he was talking about.

“About leaving. Finding a nice place for us. Near a lake maybe. I know you like water” he continued as quietly as before.

“That’ll be lovely” Elizabeth said dreamily, playing with the end of his hair.

“Soon, sweetheart. Soon” Micah whispered as he kissed the top of her head.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, smiling, enjoying the moment. Their moment.

A few minutes later, they heard movements in the camp. They stood up to see Arthur and Charles coming back, without Dutch.  
“Where’s Dutch?” Elizabeth asked as they joined the two men.

“Putting stupid idea in Eagle Flies’s head” Arthur said, anger clear in his voice even though he was whispering. 

“He’s encouraging him to declare war with the army. But they can’t win. His father knows that” Charles explained with a sight.

“Oh and Micah, Dutch told about some dynamite?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah, we have to meet Bill near Van Horn later” Micah explained.

“Right. I’m gonna get some sleep then” Arthur said as he walked in his tent.

Charles excused himself, leaving Elizabeth and Micah alone again as the sun was starting to appear on Beaver Hollow.

***

Micah and Arthur left the camp a few hours later to meet Bill near Van Horn. Elizabeth tried to keep herself busy, doing chores and reading a bit. When Micah and Arthur came back, Micah walked straight to a rock on the outskirt of the camp. He sat heavily and lit up a cigarette. Elizabeth went to join him, but was stopped by Arthur.

“Can we talk for a bit?” he asked her.

“Sure” she answered as she followed him, not sure what he wanted to talked about.

“I’m gonna say the same to John, but you need to find an escape plan, and soon” he told her as he looked at her in the eyes.

“What do you mean?” she asked as she furrowed slightly her brows.

“Dutch’s mad. His plan, it’s...” he sighted loudly “You can still have a good life, on your own, or even with Micah. Just be ready when the time comes” he explained with a serious expression.

“I understand. And what about you?” she asked, even if she knew the answer.

“I’ll just make sure you’re all gonna be alright. That’s all I can do” he simply said with a sad smile.

“Thank you, Arthur” she said as she took his hand and squeezed it gently, looking at the man with a small smile.

The man simply nodded before going to his tent. Elizabeth sighted as she looked at the man’s back. He truly did not deserve all that. She then remembered something and called him out

“Dutch want you to meet him and Sadie in Saint Denis. Something about Colm getting hang” she told him. He thanked her and she left to join Micah. She sat down next to him.

“Dutch want to blow up a whole fucking bridge” Micah said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke from his cigarette.

“You serious?” Elizabeth looked at him with wide eyes, closing her book.

“Yeah. He wants to create a “diversion”” Micah explained as he shook his head.

“What for?” Elizabeth asked.

“Don’t know. Not sure I want to” Micah answered as he threw his cigarette away.

They stayed silent, both in complete disbelief.

***

At the end of the day, Arthur left to meet with Dutch and Sadie to make sure Colm O’Driscoll really swing. When they came back, Dutch sent Micah to gather information about some train before leaving again with Arthur to meet with Eagle Flies. Arthur left a few days with Charles to help the Indian at the Wapiti Reservation after having blown up Bacchus Bridge with John.

The atmosphere in the camp was getting more tensed with every passing day. Elizabeth could feel the strong gaze of Javier or Bill scanning everyone moves. Karen had disappeared god knows where and Jack has lost his dog, Cain. It was then Josiah and Reverend Swanson’s turn to leave.

One day, Mary-Beth came to find Elizabeth. 

“Can I sit with you” Mary-Beth asked, shyly.

“Sure” Elizabeth closed her book as her friend sat down at the table with her.

“What’s going on?” Elizabeth could feel her friend was nervous.

“I... I’m thinking of leaving” she said quietly.

Elizabeth stayed speechless for a while, just looking at Mary-Beth.

“I know I might be selfish, but I believe I still have a chance to do something else” Mary-Beth tried to explained herself, thinking that her friend was mad.  
Elizabeth took Mary-Beth hands in hers.

“Go. This is the right decision. There’s nothing left here” she smiled at Mary-Beth.

“You should come with me. Leave this hell too” Mary-Beth said, looking around her to be sure no one was listening.

“I will. I’ll leave. Just not now” she told her as she squeezed her hands “You should leave tonight. Micah’s on guard duty, I’ll tell him to let you go” Elizabeth added.

“I wish you all the best. And who knows, maybe we’ll meet again” Mary-Beth said, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

“I hope so” Elizabeth said, looking tenderly at Mary-Beth as she got up and headed towards her tent.

***

The next day, Eagle Flies came rushing in the camp with other of his people and asked the Van der Linde gang to fight with him at the Cornwall oil’s factory. His father   
arrived a few moments after and tried to convince everyone the give up the fight. But Eagle Flies rode away with his men, leaving Rain Fall to ask for Arthur’s help.

“You help this feller, Arthur?” Dutch asked, looking at Arthur with a disappointed look.

“What else have you been doing behind Dutch’s back?” Bill asked in an accusing tone.

Arthur looked at them, confused by their, what seemed to be, accusations, while Rain Fall tried to convince them to go and help his son.

“Please” Rain Fall asked one more time, desperate for help.

“I’ll see what I can do. Charles?” Arthur said as he looked at Charles. The man nodded as he followed Arthur “Who else will come with me” he then asked loudly.

“Oh, I’ll ride, Arthur. Who knows what others secrets I’ll learn about. Who else?” Dutch said, some annoyance in his voice.

Elizabeth looked at Micah, to know what he’ll do. He glanced at her before walking towards his horse too. 

“Be careful” she quickly said as she looked at him with worried eyes.

Micah mounted Baylock and nodded at her before leaving with the rest of the gang.

***

Elizabeth, as well as the very few persons still in the camp, was restless, worried about the one fighting Cornwall’s men. She was with Abigail, trying to keep Jack entertained. She could tell Abigail was worried too.

After the night fell, they heard hooves coming closer. Everyone looked up to see the gang arrived. Elizabeth hurried towards Micah and jumped in his arm, not bothering by all the people around. Micah did not seem to mind either as he hugged her back. Elizabeth then looked around more carefully.

“Where are Charles and Arthur?” she asked, fearing for the worst as the both walked towards their tent.

“The Indian boy got hurt pretty badly. They took him to his father” Micah said with a gloomy face. He looked around and led Elizabeth inside the tent “Arthur said Dutch ran away when he was in trouble, so I’m guessing it’s the boy who saved him” he then whispered after closing the canvas.

“You think Dutch wanted to leave Arthur to die?” Elizabeth said, horrified by the thought.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t recognize him no more” Micah sighted as he took out his coat and hat and sat on the bed.

Elizabeth sighted as she sat down next to him. She gently ran her hand on Micah’s back as she put her head against his shoulder. Everything was really going down.

***

Arthur came back a few days after, looking even more tired and sick. Meanwhile, Uncle and Pearson had left too, earning the wrath of Dutch who called them traitors. Elizabeth was now in charge of the food while the rest was working on the final train robbery Dutch has been planning. Two men, unknown to Elizabeth, were staying in camp. 

The tension was at its highest. No one was talking, it was just some faint whisperings, full of paranoia. Elizabeth spent a lot of time with Jack and Abigail. The poor boy did not deserve to live in such an atmosphere. The two women tried to keep him entertain.

***

One day, after coming back to camp, Micah took a glimpse of Elizabeth playing with little Jack. He looked at them from afar for a while, not knowing exactly what he was feeling at the moment. Was it some kind of envy? He quickly shook the idea out of his head. Now was not the time.

A few days went on like this, until one evening, Dutch spoke to everyone.

“My friends, tomorrow is the day we’ve been waiting for. Tomorrow, we’ll be on a boat, finally free, and with a lot of money” he said with a smirk, a cigar in his hand “You know what I expect from all of you, so do not disappoint me” he said, his gaze stopping slightly on John and Arthur.

Back in their tent, Elizabeth could not stop from worrying. With how every job Dutch had planned had ended, how could she believe this one will go smoothly?

“You have to promise me you’ll be careful. And even if Dutch told you to do something, don’t do it if it seems like a bad idea” Elizabeth said, her brows furrowed with worries.

“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart, I can handle myself” Micah said as he took her by her waist and pulled her closer with a smirk.

“Promise me” Elizabeth insisted, looking at him straight in the eyes.

“I promise” Micah answered with a now serious expression “And after that, we’ll leave, you and me” he added, rubbing small circle with his thumbs on Elizabeth’s waist.

“Yes” she simply whispered as she hid her face in his neck, her arms around his neck.

They then went to bed, not letting go of each other. 

Tomorrow was the big day. The day that will define their future.


	17. Chapter 17

It was the big day. The morning of the robbery, everyone was a bit anxious, some more than other. Some were cleaning their guns, some were attending to their horses. The atmosphere was even worse than the other days. No one was talking, everyone had a serious face.

Elizabeth, after having preparing some food, was now petting Baylock, trying to calm her nerves.

“You be brave and take care of him, mmh?” Elizabeth told the horse as she gave him an apple.

“You spoil him too much” Micah chuckled as he walked from behind her. 

“I know. But he deserves it, don’t you think?” she said as she ran her hand through his mane.

“Yeah, probably” he answered as he put his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulder.

“When do you leave?” Elizabeth asked after a moment of silent.

“Early in the afternoon. The train is supposed to be in Saint Denis around three o’clock” Micah said with a sight.

“I see” she answered quietly.

“If you can, start packing a few things while we’re gone. The quicker we leave, the better” Micah added, looking around to be sure no one was listening.

“Sure. Where are we gonna go?” she asked, looking at him with a smile.

“Not sure yet. Far from here” he answered, looking gently at her.

She nodded before keeping her head low, her smile leaving her face. Micah noticed it and ran his hands on her upper arms in a comforting way.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m gonna come back, and then it’ll be just you and me” he said as he took her in his arms. She buried her face in his chest while he rested his chin on her head, holding her close.

“I love you” she muttered, her voice muffled by Micah’s clothes. 

“Love you too, sweetheart” he replied, a small smile forming on his lips.

Baylock took the opportunity to let out a small neigh as he rubbed his nose against Elizabeth back.

“Yes, we love you too” she chuckled as she patted his head, making the horse neighed some more.

Dutch called everyone who was taking part of the robbery to do a last checkup. They then ate something and it was time to go. Those who remained at camp wished good luck to those who left, and watched them rode out for their final job.

It was now just Susan, Tilly, Abigail and Elizabeth in the camp. They looked at each other before Miss Grimshaw spoke.

“Miss Jackson, can I have a word please?” she said before walking a bit further, soon followed by Tilly.

Elizbabeth could not hear, but she guessed Miss Grimshaw’s intentions. It was confirmed when Tilly came back to Elizabeth and Abigail.

“She told me to leave while they’re gone. To start on honest life” she said, some sadness could be heard in her voice.

“And she’s right. Don’t throw your life away for that. It’s not worth it. Not anymore” Abigail told her as she rubbed her arm in comfort, while Elizabeth smiled at her warmly.

Tilly looked at them, tears in her eyes, with a small smile, thanking them silently before leaving to pack her things. Elizabeth and Abigail helped her load her things on a horse.

“You go have a good life now, alright?” Elizabeth told her as she hugged her.

“And what about you?” Tilly said, looking at the three women.

“We’ll be fine, don’t worry about us” Abigail answered as she hugged the young women.

Tilly then looked at Miss Grimshaw, a bit uncertain about what to do. The older woman smiled gently before stepping toward the lady and taking her hands in hers.  
“I’m very proud of you, Miss Tilly Jackson. I’ve always been, and I’ll always be. I want you to have a happy life from now on. An honest one” she said as she gently squeezed Tilly’s hands.

“Thank you, for everything” Tilly simply said, a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at the woman she leant to love almost like a mother.

Miss Grimshaw wiped away the tears with her thumbs before pushing her towards her horse. They waved goodbye as they looked at Tilly riding out of camp.

“What about you? Are you gonna stay?” Abigail asked Miss Grimsahw after a moment of silent.

“Yes, I’ll stay, see if I can put some senses back in Dutch’s head” she said with a serious tone.

***

As expected, the job did not go smoothly. First, the train did not stop in Saint Denis like it was supposed to. They all had to ride after it and jump on it. Then, they lost John, who was shot and fell from the train. Dutch went to get him, but came back alone, saying the patrol got him first.

They were now riding back to camp with the money when they saw a horse approaching.

“They came and took Abigail! I saved Jack, we hid, but they took Abigail!” Elizabeth shouted from her horse, stopping in front of the others with little Jack in front of her.

“Who did?” Arthur asked first.

“Agent Milton and his men, took her to Van Horn, to be put on a boat and tried for murder” Elizabeth tried to explain while regaining her breath, her eyes finally finding Micah in the group. He was looking at her with a worried expression. 

“I am sorry to hear that” Dutch started but got interrupted. 

“We ain’t got time for that Dutch! We finally have the money. They would have abandoned us anyway” Bill explained, and continued as he saw the doubt in Dutch’s eyes “She’s just a girl. They won’t do nothing to her. But we have to keep moving this time, Dutch!”

“So we just gonna let the boy be made an orphan?” Arthur asked Dutch, clearly angry.

Elizabeth now realized that John was not here. She asked Micah with a look what Arthur meant, and he simply answered by shaking his head slightly. She understood. She looked at the boy in front of her. She knew he was not understanding everything that was happening, but she knew for sure he was scared. She held him tighter against her.

“It-it ain’t like that!” Dutch try to say, clearly hesitating.

“What is it like?” Arthur asked in disbelief.

“I wanna live, Arthur! I ain’t condemned like you!” Bill said harshly “Dutch, it’s just a girl” he tried to convince Dutch again. 

“You right” Dutch finally said.

“Dutch! And the boy?” Elizabeth asked, clearly shocked.

“It pains me to say it, but he’s right” Dutch added.

“Dutch!” Arthur shouted, trying one last time to make him listen as he dismounted his horse and came closer to Dutch.

“Come on boys!” Dutch simply said loudly, not listening to Arthur.

They all left expect for Sadie, Arthur, Micah and Elizabeth.

“Well, I guess that’s that then. All them goddamn years...” Arthur said after a few coughs. 

“Come on, Arthur. Let’s go get her. You and me is all we need” Sadie said, making Arthur nod in agreement. 

“Miss Forcier. Here, take this money. Take Jack and you wait at Copperhead Landing for Abigail” Arthur told Elizabeth as he took a bag of money from his horse to put it on hers.

“Alright, thanks Arthur” she looked at him with sad eyes.

“You have good life now, you hear?” he said with a small smile as he looked at her.

“I will” she said, feeling the tears coming to her eyes. She had a feeling it probably will be the last time she saw Arthur Morgan. 

He nodded before looking at Jack.

“Jack, come here. Be brave, son. I’m gonna go get your momma” he said gently before mounting his horse.

“You need another gun?” Micah, who has been very silent until now, said.

“No, we’ll be alright. Go back to camp, to see what’s going on over there” Arthur told him after thanking him silently for the proposition.

“Alright. I’ll meet you at Copperhead Landing too” he then said to Elizabeth.

“Be careful” she said, her voice still full of sadness.

They then all went their separate ways.

***

When Micah arrived at camp, the sun was starting to set and everyone was rushing to pack up. He quickly went to his tent to find a bag already done. He took it and walked towards his horse, but stopped when he walked in front of Abigail’s tent. He noticed a bag inside, also done. He looked at it for a moment before stepping inside and taking it. He put the bags on Baylock.

Micah had just finished dismantling his tent when Arthur rode into the camp.

“We all need to have a little chat” Arthur said before dismounting his horse.

“Look who’s back” Bill spat out. 

“I just saw agent Milton, Dutch. Abigail shot him. She’s okay, not that you care too much about that” Arthur told as he walked further towards Dutch “You rats, all of you” he added, looking at the two unknown men and Bill.

Micah and the rest walked closer, intrigued by Arthur’s words.

“Seems like old Bill was pretty close with Milton” he said, looking at Bill straight in the eyes.

“What the hell are you talking about, Morgan!” Bill shouted, clearly losing his cool, his grip on his rifle strengthening.

“You talked” Arthur simply stated.

“That’s a lie!” Bill shouted again, walking closer to Arthur in a menacing way.

“Dutch...” Arthur said, looking at the man.

“Dutch! We made it. Think of the future” Bill said quickly, his voice slightly trembling.

“Milton told me” Arthur added, looking at Dutch, who now seemed confused.

“And you believe him, Morgan?” Bill said, his voice was now steadier.

“It all make sense now” Arthur said slowly, like he was finally connecting everything that happened until now.

“No! It damn well doesn’t” Bill spat before raising his rifle in Arthur’s direction.

Arthur quickly upholstered his gun as well, pointing it at Bill. And as a reaction to that, the two unknown men took out theirs and pointed them at Arthur. Micah had his hands in his guns, observing the tensed scene in front of him.

“Dutch, think” Arthur pleaded him, not taking his eyes of Bill.

Dutch was lost. He looked between the two men, not knowing what to do.

“Dutch!” a third voice rang out and took Dutch out of his hesitation. It was John, coming into what was left of the camp.

“Marston?” Micah looked back at him, as surprised as the rest of the gang.

“You left me. You left me to die!” John said, walking slowly while holding his shoulder.

“My boy... I didn’t have a choice. John, I didn’t” Dutch answered as he walked towards him, shaking his head slightly.

“You!” John started, deception writing all over his face.

“I didn’t have a choice” Dutch repeated, trying to justify his action.

“Left me!” John shouted, the anger overcoming the deception.

Dutch could only look at him, speechless.

“All of you, you pick your side now, because this is over” Arthur said, too calmly “ All them years, Dutch, for this snake!” he was now speaking louder, taking out all his frustration and anger towards Dutch.

“Shut up, Morgan! Shut up!” Bill screamed, his whole body trembling of anger.

“No. You shut up, Williamson. And put down your gun!” Miss Grimshaw intervened, walking to stand beside Arthur, her shotgun pointing at Bill.

“There’s Pinkerton coming, fast” Javier ran towards them, out of breath. 

Then everything happened really fast. Javier‘s arrival took Bill out of surprised, and the bullet touched Miss Grimshaw as she looked at the Mexican.

“Now!!!” Dutch shouted as he took out his guns while poor Miss Grimshaw fell on the floor, screaming in pain “Who amongst you is with me, and who is betraying me?” he said, walking further in the middle of the camp. 

“Javier! Think! Think for yourself” Arthur tried to convinced the man, who looked unsure.

Bill and his two friends went beside Dutch, soon followed by Javier, leaving Arthur and John on the other side.

Micah stood in the middle. He knew Dutch has lost his mind, but not to this extend. He slowly walked towards Arthur and John, defying Dutch’s glare.

“So you too. You’re betraying me” Dutch said slowly, voice a disappointed expression.

“You’re the only one betraying you, Dutch” Micah said, a smirk forming on his lips.

But this tensed face-to-face was soon interrupted by a shouting voice.

“Put your guns down!” before a gunshot rang. It was Agent Milton’s voice.

“Dammit! I though he was dead!” Micah shouted.

“I thought so too!” Arthur answered as they took cover behind some crates.

Everything went chaotic really quickly. Dutch and the others left though the forest, leaving the three men with the Pinkerton.

“Come on! Into the cave! Quick!” John said, already running inside.

John guided them in the cave until they reached an exit. They were now in the middle of the dark forest, calling for their horses.

“Abigail- Abigail’s safe, so’s Jack” Arthur said while trying to breath.

“Where are they” John asked. Micah was watching around them, trying to spot their horses.

“They’re with Sadie and Elizabeth, at Copperhead Landing” Arthur told him.

“Thank you, brother” John said in a breath, taking Arthur’s hand in his.  
“The horses are here” Micah said quietly as he walked towards Baylock.

John wanted to do the same, but was held back by Arthur.

“I want you to not look back, like I said” Arthur said, looking at the young man in the eyes “You too Micah” his eyes then landed on the blonde man, who simply nodded.

They soon heard shooting from behind them, and rode quickly to escape the bullet. They ran in the forest for a while when Arthur and John’s horses got shot. The two men went flying on the ground when Micah noticed and stopped. He tried to shot the men around them while Arthur and John stood up to help him. 

When there was no shooting back around them, Arthur went to his horse, to calm him, and simply be with him for his last moment. 

“Come on Arthur, we have to go!” John pressed him. Micah had dismounted Baylock in the meantime.

“Micah, take John with you, you’ll be quicker that way” Arthur said between two coughs.

“What about you! I ain’t leaving you here alone!” John asked, disapproving Arthur’s plan.

“I’ll meet you later” Arthur tried to convince his friend.

They both looked at Micah when they heard a slight slapping noise and saw his horse running away.

“He’s not the dumbest, he’ll find us back” Micah tried to seemed casual “We better hurry though if we want to make it” he added.

John nodded at him while Arthur groaned slightly.

“Alright, I’m gonna get you out of this bullshit, if it’s the last goddamn thing I do” Arthur added with a determined face.

They then started to make their way through the forest.

They heard shooting from behind them and started running towards some rocky hills. They climbed up for a bit, shooting back when they could. After a while, Arthur, out of breath, stopped.

“Alright, Arthur, let’s go” John encouraged him.

“You two go...” Arthur said weakly, bent over.

“Keep pushing Arthur” John said. Micah just looked. He saw how the poor man was struggling. 

“No... I think I’ve pushed all I can” Arthur said, spitting some blood and standing up straight.

“Come on” John breathed out, not wanting to hear what the older man was going to say.

“You go” Arthur repeated.

“We ain’t got time for this, not now” John told him, feeling more and more desperate. 

Arthur quickly glanced at Micah, who simply nodded back. Arthur felt relieved that at least he understood the situation. 

“We ain’t both gonna make it” Arthur said with a sad smile as he removed his hat from his head “Go” he said again.

John could only look at him, feeling the dilemma he was facing. He shook his head, still refusing to listen.

“Come on, John. You have a family. There waiting for you. You have to get back to them. Think of little Jack. You have to live, for him. Now go. I’ll hold them off” he told John, putting his hat on his head “It would mean a lot to me, please” he added, as he squeezed John’s unwounded shoulder “There ain’t no more time for talk. Go” he concluded as he took off his satchel and gave it to John.

The younger man looked at him, tears in his eyes. Micah stood back, knowing it was something between to two men. 

“Arthur!” John finally said something, calling desperately for his friend, his brother, who was starting to walk towards the shooting.

“Get the hell out of here and be a goddamn man!” Arthur answered just as loudly as John as he turned around to face him.

“You’re my brother” John then said, more softly this time.

“I know... I know” Arthur simply answered, just above a whispered.

Arthur exchanged one last glance with Micah, both of them very serious.

“Take him back safely, please” Arthur said, humbly. He knew they have never been friend, or even close. But in this moment, they understood each other, even without word. Micah nodded and, with John, they climbed down the mountain, leaving the man behind, to his fate.

While they rushed through the forest, Micah could hear John’s sniffing, but he never mentioned it. Not once. 

Micah tried to call Baylock, and the horse found them a few minutes later. They both mounted him and rode south. The two men were silent, John grieving his brother and Micah thinking. 

He understood Arthur’s choice. But he did not like it. He at least wanted to try something.

They soon saw some light.

“Butcher Creek” Micah whispered to himself.

Suddenly, he stopped the horse. 

“What the fuck, Bell?” John said, more surprised than angry.

“Take a horse and go to Copperhead Landing” Micah simply said as he looked around to spot a horse.

“What about you?” John asked, unsure about the man’s idea, but dismounting nevertheless.

“I’m going back, see if I can found Morgan” he said quietly, not looking at John.

“Then I’m going with you!” the young said loudly, ready to climb back.

“No! You do as he said! You go back to your family, to your kid” Micah said, finally looking at John with a very serious expression.

John only looked at him in silence for a while before letting go of the horse’s saddle with a curse. He knew Micah was right at this moment.

“Alright. Thank you” John simply said.

Micah did not answer before spurring his horse and leaving quickly. John looked at him as he readjusted the hat in his head before mounting a horse and ridding south.

***

Micah rode all the way back to where they parted ways with Arthur. He left his horse to climb some rocks when he heard a gunshot. He hurried towards the noise and saw Agent Milton, pinning Arthur to the ground, a knife dangerously close to his throat. Without a second, Micah upholstered his gun and shot Milton in the head.   
Arthur pushed the dead body to the side before sitting with difficulties. 

“Thanks” Arthur coughed some blood “Where’s John?” he could barely asked.

“Safe, ridding to his family” Micah answered as he walked towards Arthur.

The poor man was in a bad state, bruises all over his face, and he could barely breathe. Micah knew he was too late.

“Here, take this” Arthur whispered as he gave Micah a key “If you go back to the cave, there’s a chest where Dutch hid all our money. Abigail gave it to me, but I don’t think I’ll be able to use it” Arthur tried to chuckled, but it only caused him to cough violently.

Micah took the key after he kneeled next to him and waited for his cough to calm down.

“Take care of her. She deserves it” Arthur said as he lay back down against a rock.

“I know. I will” Micah answered, not knowing exactly what to do or to say.

“Go now, before others arrived” Arthur told him with a small smile.

“Thanks” Micah said as he showed the key in his hand before standing up.

Arthur just nodded and lay his head against the rock, as breathing got more difficult.

Micah left silently. He let out a long sigh before finding Baylock and heading towards the hidden entrance of the cave. He quickly entered it and found Dutch’s chest hidden under a wagon. There was not a lot inside, but still enough to start a new life. 

He climbed out of the cave, and as he mounted Baylock, a ray of sunshine emerged above the trees. 

“You did it, Morgan. Farewell” he said to himself as he looked at the sun rising.

***

Elizabeth was walking in circle in front of the remains of a cabin and the small tent they built. After the state of shock, she had been so glad and relieved to see John arrived. But now, she was starting to fear the worst for Micah. John told her he returned to help Arthur. So now, they were just waiting. Waiting and hoping.

It must have been almost eight o’clock when they heard hooves approaching. Elizabeth rushed outside the tent, completely ignoring Sadie’s warning. As she pushed the canvas, she saw Micah dismounting his horse. He looked exhausted, but as soon as he saw Elizabeth, the corner of his lip curved in a tired, but happy smile.

She ran towards him and let her body collided with his. He caught her and held her tight, drowning his nose in her hair. The others were slowly coming out of the tent to see the newcomer.

“Where’s Arthur?” John asked quietly, even though he already knew. He felt it.

Micah simply looked at him, and they knew. Elizabeth did not dare to move, afraid to learn the new. But when she heard Abigail quiet sob, she understood. Her hold on Micah tightened and she kept her face hidden in his chest as Micah slowly brushed her back in comfort.

When everyone adjusted to the new, Micah gave the Marston their bag he took from the camp. Abigail thanked him profusely, as there were some of Jack’s toys inside. Micah also wanted to give the Marston all the money he took from Dutch’s chest, saying it was thanks to Abigail that he could retrieve it. But they both insisted that they should split up after everything Elizabeth and Micah did for them too. 

Now, it was time to part way. Sadie managed to find a wagon for the Marston to use and helped them load everything on it.

“Take care, all of you” Sadie said before hugging Abigail and Elizabeth and shaking hands with John and Micah. She then left, saying she wanted to live on her own for a while.

“Well, I guess this is how it ends” Elizabeth sighted as she looked at the Marston.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again” Abigail said as she took her in her arms. 

“Bye Jack! Be a good boy to your parents alright” Elizabeth then told little Jack, who was already on the wagon.

“Bye, Auntie Eli!” the boy waved back at her.

“Thanks, for all you’ve done for us” John said, a bit too formally, to Micah, as they shook hand.

“Don’t mention it” Micah answered. 

***

Micah and Elizabeth looked as the Marston’s wagon disappeared in the horizon, closing the chapter of the Van der Linde gang.

“So, where are we going now?” Elizabeth asked as she looked at the man by her side with a loving smile. 

“Wherever you want, sweetheart” he answered with a smirk before planting a gentle kiss on her temple.

And this was how this new chapter, their chapter, began.


	18. Chapter 18

Eight years had passed since the end of the Van der Linde gang. A lot of things happened during this time for Elizabeth and Micah.

They moved. A lot. At first they hid in the Grizzlies East, in a cabin near O’Creagh’s Run.

***

They were both exhausted. They rode for days, trying to find a place to lay low for a while. The horses were getting tired too. 

“Doesn’t this place look familiar somehow?” Elizabeth said, looking around trying to remember.

“It’s ‘cause I brought you here not too long ago. O’Creagh’s Run” Micah told her as he recognized the place.

He did not realize they were back up here, which made him a bit uneasy. But as they rode closer, they noticed a cabin, with no smoke coming out of it.

They both looked at it for a moment.

“Doesn’t this look a bit too good to be true” Elizabeth said, looking at Micah.

“It does, but it might be worth checking out. The night is falling, we have to stop somewhere” Micah said as he rode further towards the little house.

After dismounting, they both stopped in front of the door and Micah knocked three times. No answer. He knocked again, louder, but still nothing. He opened the door carefully and stepped inside, his hand on his gun. A moment after, Elizabeth entered the cabin too. 

Clearly, no has come here for a while. There was rotten food on the table and old coffee in a pot. But there were still some belongings inside.

“Well, the last occupant must be dead somewhere” Micah said as he let himself fell on the bed. A cloud of dust erupted from the sheet. 

“Charming” Elizabeth said with a grimace “But I guess it’s quite our luck. Except for the smell and the dust, it’s pretty decent. There’s even some food and coffee” she shrugged as she looked around the house.

After a quick cleaning, the cabin was indeed decent. It was isolated just enough, and the lake provided a good amount of food.

One night, they were both sitting on the porch, drinking some coffee.

“The person who lived here was lucky. The place is wonderful” Elizabeth said as she looked at the peaceful lake in front of her.

“And we’re even more lucky to have found it unoccupied” Micah added with a smirk.

“Very true” Elizabeth answered as she turned to look at Micah and planted a kiss on his cheek.

***

A year or so later, they took their chance in the spring to head up north. The place they were staying was wonderful, but lately they noticed more and more people passing by, and feared it could Pinkerton looking for old members of the gang.

They found a hunting lodge, higher in the Grizzlies East. They stayed until the autumn, knowing it will get difficult to find food during the winter in this kind of place. And they needed to find a way to make money too.

***

After a little trip, they stayed in a little house in the Cumberland Forest, which luckily was close to Valentine.

Elizabeth was making tonics and remedy with herbs she found in the wild and was selling them to the doctor in town while Micah was mostly doing bounty hunting.   
A few weeks after they arrived in this new place, Elizabeth noticed some changes. At first, she wasn’t sure, so a day she was delivering some of her remedies, she asked the doctor. 

When she came back in their home, Micah was not here yet. She lit the fire and waited in front of it, thinking of every scenario possible. She was scared. 

Two hours later, she heard the sound of hooves outside. When the door opened, she stood instantly.

“Wow! You’re still up?” Micah said, not expecting to see Elizabeth still awake and even les standing in front of him. 

“Yeah, I have something to tell you” Elizabeth muttered, looking at her feet.

Micah looked at her confused, his brow furrowed.

“You okay?” he asked as he walked towards her and took her in his arms.

“Yes, it’s just... I went to the doctor today-“she started but Micah cut her.

“Did this little piece of shit not pay you again?” he asked, already angry against the man.

“What? No, no. Uhm, I’ve been feeling a bit unwell lately, and I asked him about it” she explained a bit, still not looking at Micah, who was now starting to get worried.

“And what did he say?” he asked slowly.

Elizabeth took a deep breath before finally looking at the man in front of her.

“I’m pregnant” she said quietly, looking at Micah worriedly. 

Micah just blink a few time, not sure he heard right. He looked down at her stomach, and then met her eyes again.

“You’re... pregnant? For real?” he asked, still as unsure.

Elizabeth simply nodded, not able to say a word. She could not tell what was in Micah’s head in the moment.

He looked at her stomach again, and reached for it with his hands.

“You’re pregnant” he repeated, this time just above a whisper, a soft smile appearing in his face.

“Are you okay with it?” Elizabeth asked timidly.

“I never thought I’d be a father. Never thought I wanted to be one either. But now, I want this baby so much, with you” he said as he looked up at Elizabeth, his eyes shining with happiness. 

All the fear and the doubt Elizabeth felt just disappeared when she saw Micah’s expression of pure joy. She let out a chuckled as a single tear rolled on her cheeks before jumping to kiss Micah, who caught her in his arms and held her tight.

They laughed and kissed in each other arms for a good part of the night, simply enjoying this precious moment.

Saying that Micah was overprotective during the pregnancy was an understatement. Since her baby bump started to show, Micah forbad Elizabeth to ride a horse, or even a wagon, unless it was a real necessity. He went himself delivering her remedies in town and even learnt to recognize a few plants.

He also could not keep his hands off her belly, always gently touching or caressing it.

When the day of the birth came, Micah rushed to town to, literally, kidnap the doctor and bring him back to their cabin. Thankfully, the delivery went without major issues. 

“Congratulation, it’s a little girl” the doctor said as he gave the newborn to Elizabeth before taking his leave after checking everything was okay.

Micah went to sit next to Elizabeth on the bed, looking at the tiny human she held in her arms.

“How are we gonna call her?” Elizabeth asked, not taking her eyes off of the baby.

“Don’t know. We sure can’t call her Micah the 4th” Micah said with a shrugged and his usual smirk.

Elizabeth looked at him with a playful, but annoyed, face before chuckling slightly. 

“What about Mia?” Elizabeth asked as she turned her head to look at Micah.

“Where does that come from?” he asked.

“My mom’s name was Amelia, so I thought, if you like it that is...” Elizabeth tried to explain, feeling unsure.

“Mia then. It’s very pretty” he cut her before kissing her forehead.

***

They stayed there until Mia was one year old, but they had to move then. Peoples were not buying home-made medicine no more, and the sheriff stopped posting posters of bounties.

They made a first stop in Strawberry, but soon realized it was still just like when Elizabeth came with her father a few years ago, too small for newcomers looking for work. The heard about a new ranch starting to be built north of the Owanjila lake, but Micah was not so keen to ask for help yet.

They then tried their luck in Blackwater. The city was full of new building under construction, so it did not take long for Micah to find some job on a construction site. Elizabeth and Mia were staying at the hotel, as they had not yet find any better.

The job was hard, but the pay was alright, and Elizabeth was happy to see Micah doing a regular job, not as dangerous as bounty hunting. Only once Micah needed to took out his gun for his job. A group of Skinner Brother had intercepted a wagon full of materials. Micah and two others had rushed in Tall Tree to retrieve it.

“What happened to you?” Elizabeth almost screamed when she saw Micah coming back in the evening.

“Some thugs from around here stole one of our wagons, went to retrieve it with some of the boys” Micah muttered as he removed his coat with a grunt.

“By some thugs, you mean the Skinner Brothers?!” Elizabeth asked, her voice now more angry.

“... yeah, probably” Micah said, not looking at Elizabeth.

“What’s the point of you having a regular job if you still find a way to take out your guns and come back home like this?!” she exploded, moving her hands in every direction, looking at Micah in disbelief “You know what those Skinner Brothers do to people. What if something serious had happened to you?” she continued, her voice trembling slightly.

Micah sighted as he looked up at her.  
“I know. I’m sorry” he said flatly, tired by his day.

“Anyway. Go get a bath. You’re filthy” she said before turning her back to him and attending to Mia, who woke up during the shouting. Micah left the room without a word.

After his bath, Micah went outside to smoke. He had a small gash on his cheek and another one, a bit bigger, on his arm, and mostly bruises a bit everywhere from falling from his horse after one of the Skinner Brothers jumped on him from a tree. It was painful to move, but nothing too serious thankfully. He knew he has been reckless, but he needed those materials to work and get paid. And he was determined to offer a better life to his little family.

When he came back to their room, all the lights were off, he just had the lighting from outside to guide him. He carefully walked to the bed and lay down next to Elizabeth with a few quiet groans. 

“I was really worried when I saw you tonight” Elizabeth quietly said after a moment of silence.

“I’m sorry” Micah muttered, not wanting to get scolded again. 

“And I’m sorry I got mad at you” Elizabeth said.

“Well, that was a bit dumb what I did, too” Micah admitted with a shrugged, which cost him another grunt of pain.

“A bit dumb? That was pure stupidity you mean?” Elizabeth said as she turned to face him, an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, if you want” Micah agreed as he rolled his eyes, a small smirk appearing on his lips.

Elizabeth chuckled lightly before reaching the cut on his cheek with her small hand. Micah put his hand on top of hers and leaned to reach for her lips, but could not as he was stopped by a flashing pain, probably from a bruised rib.

“I’ll buy you something for the bruises tomorrow” Elizabeth laughed softly before moving toward him and giving him a tender kiss.

“Yeah... that’d be great sweety” Micah said in a sigh as he tried to find a comfortable position to sleep, not without a few grunts.

The next day, Elizabeth went to the general store with Mia to buy medicine for Micah. They then headed towards the construction site to give it to him.

They looked for him for a bit and when Elizabeth spotted him, she showed him to Mia and the little girl started to trot in his direction happily.

When Micah noticed the toddler walking towards him, his face lit up instantly and he put down what he was holding to be ready to capture the little girl, who threw herself in his arm. Elizabeth laughed at the show, especially when Micah straightened up with his daughter in his arm, with a terrible grimace from the remaining pain.

“I bought you something that should help” Elizabeth said as she gave him a little bag.

“Thanks” he said as he put down Mia and looked at what Elizabeth just gave him.

“Mister Bell, am I right?” a sudden voice rang from behind Elizabeth.

“Yes” he simply answered, looking at the nicely dressed man coming their way.

“I’m Patrick Carrigan, the lucky owner of the shop you are currently building. I came here to thank you, for what you did yesterday. As I said to the other two men, if you didn’t retrieve this wagon, it would have been a disaster for the shop” the man explained dramatically “I would probably have gone bankrupt too” he added with a weird laugh.

“Glad I could help then” Micah said, not sure what the man wanted.

“I’m gonna leave you to your work” Elizabeth quietly said to Micah as she took little Mia’s hand “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, sir” she politely said goodbye and left.

“Your wife I assume” Mister Carrigan said, a joyful smile on his face.

“Uhm, yes” Micah said after a second of hesitation. They were not married, but Micah like the sound of Elizabeth being his wife a lot.

“Mmh, may I ask where you are staying at the moment?” the man asked.

“At the hotel. We’re new around here” Micah said, not wanting to expose his whole life to this stranger, even if technically, he was his boss.

“Yes, I see. To be honest, I came here to give you and the other two men a little reward, for saving my shop. The other men were happy with a bit of cash and some liquor. And I was gonna give you the same. But I have a feeling that it might not be the most adequate thing for you” the man said, looking intensively at Micah “And actually, I might have a proposition for you” he added.

“What is it?” Micah asked, getting curious as the man’s tone get more serious. 

“You see, I have this house, outside of Blackwater. But I don’t live there, because, well, it’s outside the city. But it could be a good house for, let’s say, a little family, new around the area” the man said, looking at Micah with a knowing look.

“Alright, and what would be the conditions? I’m guessing you’re not gonna give me your house for free” Micah asked cautiously, knowing not to trust every kind person.

“For free? No. I could rent it to you, yes. But I have another deal. Are you any good at hunting, Mister Bell” the man asked, as mysterious as before.

“Yes, used to do it quite often, still do it once in a while” Micah shrugged.

“It should do. You see, my shop is a tailor shop. I’m an artist you could say. And I need materials. Good quality materials. So I’m indeed willing to sell you the house, in exchange of a payment in pelts, flowers, maybe shells, who knows. We’ll make an official contract, of course. I don’t like shady business” the man explained, making a lot of movements with his hands “So? What do you say?”

“Well, I say it sure looks like a nice proposition. Though I would like to see the house before making any contract” Micah said, a bit taken aback by the opportunity in front of him.

“Absolutely! How about tomorrow? Take your lovely wife too, I’m sure she’ll love it!” the man said, excitation coming clear out of his voice as he shook Micah’s hand energetically. 

“Welcome back. How are your bruises?" Elizabeth asked when she saw Micah entering the room.

“Better, the stuff you gave me was pretty effective” Micah said as he walked towards Elizabeth and gave her a quick kiss.

“I’m glad to hear it” she said with a warm smile.

“Oh yeah, do you think you can give Mia to the old lady tomorrow?” Micah asked ass he remembered his discussion from earlier.

“Yes, probably. Are we going somewhere?” Elizabeth asked, looking at Micah with a confused expression.

“We’re going to visit a house” Micah said proudly, with a smirk.

Elizabeth looked at him with round eyes for a while. Micah had to explain everything to Elizabeth before they went to bed.

The next day, Elizabeth went with Mia to an old lady living close by. She knew her well and trusted her with Mia when she needed a babysitter. They then headed with Micah in direction of the house, south of Blackwater.

“I hope it’s not haunted” Elizabeth said as she walked, holding onto Micah’s arm.

“What?” Micah looked at her with an amused face.

“I mean, there must be a reason he’s not living there” Elizabeth said, looking at the house as they get closer.

The house was lovely. It was not too close to the road and has a pretty tree just next to it. It also had a little barn for a horse a bit further. Mister Carrigan welcomed them and made them visit the inside. It was truly a lovely house.

While Micah was looking around, Elizabeth stayed with Mister Carrigan on the porch.

“I hope I’m not being too indiscreet, but Micah couldn’t really tell me why you didn’t live in the house. And I was wondering what could be the reason” Elizabeth asked politely.

“Well” the man took a deep breath “I guess I have to tell you. You’re gonna notice it someday anyway. There are some beasts coming quite close to the house. It was making me anxious” the man explained quietly, as he afraid they will hear him.

“Beasts? What kind of beasts?” Elizabeth asked, a bit worried.

“Huge ones! Black, with horns. Surely something devilish” the man whispered the last part.

“You mean bison?” Elizabeth asked, feeling already relieved.

“I don’t know. I just know they were observing me when I lived here before” the man said as he scanned the horizon.

“Yes... You’re surely better in town now” Elizabeth said, trying to hide her amusement.

“Absolutely. And I’m glad I can help good people like you” Mister Carrigan said, all his confident regaining himself. 

A few days later, Micah, Elizabeth and Mia were installed in their new home, looking like a real little family. Well, at least almost like a real family.


	19. Chapter 19 [Finale]

A year after Elizabeth and Micah moved in their house, everything was going well for them. Micah was working for Mister Carrigan for free, until he repaid the house, but still managed to make some money by selling the carcass and the meat of the animals he killed. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was also making some by selling flower arrangements she made from her garden. It was not much, but she enjoyed it very much. Mia had celebrated her second birthday with her parents and was growing up nicely. All was fine for them, but Micah still felt something was missing. 

***

After a good day of hunting, Micah managed to earn a pretty amount of money after selling what was left to the butcher. He was walking through the main street in Blackwater, wanting to reward himself with a beer before going back home. But as he walked, his eyes got caught by something in the window of a shop. He stopped there, his eyes stuck on the tiny object.

When he came back home, Micah was welcomed by the delicious smell of homemade food, and the giggling of a child. He stopped in front of the closed door, thinking how he used to despise this kind of life. But now, he would not change it for all the gold in the world. He sighted with a smile and entered the house. 

“Daddy!” the little girl ran towards him, her little arms widely spread.

“Hey, sweetpea” Micah chuckled as he took the girl in his arms.

“Had a nice day?” Elizabeth asked as she walked towards him to give him a quick, but tender kiss.

“Very nice. You?” he replied as he put down Mia and walked with Elizabeth near the kitchen.

“Great. Mia helped me with the garden, didn’t you, darling?” Elizabeth said as she looked at the little girl. Mia answered with a giggle before turning her attention back to her toy.

Elizabeth chuckled and continued to prepare the diner. Micah looked at the little girl for a moment before turning towards Elizabeth. He stood behind her and put his arms around her waist, planting small kissed in her neck and shoulder. 

“I love you” he murmured, his nose brushing against her skin.

“I love you too, Micah” Elizabeth answered with a smile, a bit surprised by his behavior. She knew he loved her, but for him to actually say it, it was not common. 

They then ate, sharing pleasant conversations, and when it was time, Micah put Mia to bed. When he was done, he found Elizabeth on the porch, in front of their house, with two cups of coffee. It was their little ritual every evening. 

“I still can barely believe this is our house” Elizabeth said as she looked around her.

“Yeah, we were pretty lucky back then” Micah said as he took a sip of his coffee.

“That’s an understatement” Elizabeth chuckled.

They finished their coffee, talking quietly.

“Well, I think I’m gonna go to bed. You’re coming?” Elizabeth asked as she stood up and took the two empty cups before walking towards the door.

“Actually, I still have something to tell you” Micah said as he stood up quickly. 

“Mmh?” Elizabeth stopped and looked at him with a gentle smile.

“Well, something to ask actually” he said as he walked towards her and took the cups she was holding before putting them back on the table. When he saw her looking at him like this, he knew he was doing the right thing.

“Sure, I’m listening” she looked at him a bit confused, but still with her smile as Micah took both her hands in his.

“I never thought I wanted a family. I thought it was a weakness, something unnecessary. I hated my brother for having one, thinking he was a pathetic man. But now I understand. You’re not my weakness, you’re my strength. At the end of the gang and those last years, you were always by my side, supporting me, helping me. You even gave me the most amazing little girl. I have already told you, but you are brave, strong, and absolutely beautiful. It’s for all those reasons, and even more, that I love you, Elizabeth. And I would be honored if you’d agreed... to be my wife” he said as he let go of her hands to take out the pretty ring he bought earlier in town.  
Elizabeth stayed a few seconds silent, a mouth slightly open in surprised. She could tell the poor man was nervous.

“You’re supposed to kneel when you propose though” she said with a serious expression as she crossed her arms on her chest. 

Micah’s eyes blinked a few times before widening.

“Oh fuck” he simply said as he awkwardly put one knee down, clearly taken out of guard by Elizabeth response.

“I’m messing with you” she quickly added as she dove towards him, cupping his face before kissing him passionately. 

After a moment of utter shock, Micah responded to the kiss, pulling Elizabeth closer, finally relaxing. They both smiled in the kiss, the smile changing in quiet chuckles as Micah broke the kiss the press his forehead against hers, their eyes still closed.

“So it’s a yes?” Micah asked, slowly lifting his head to look at Elizabeth.

“Of course, it’s a yes” she instantly replied, a bright smile on her lips.

Micah then took her left hand and carefully slipped the ring on her finger, kissing the top of her hand when he was done. 

“It’s beautiful. But you know I didn’t need a ring” Elizabeth said as they were both still sitting on the floor. She could tell the ring was quite expensive and felt a bit guilty he spend this much money just for her.

“I know. I was not looking for one. But this one caught my attention, and I knew it was made for you” Micah explained, looking tenderly at her.

“Well, thank you then” she simply said before standing up and offering Micah a hand. 

He took it and they both entered the house for the night.

They celebrated the wedding a few weeks later, just the three of them and the priest. It was simple, but it was exactly what they wanted.

***

Everything was well for the Bell family. Mister Carrigan business worked so well that he decided to open a second shop in Saint Denis, designating Micah as shop manager for the one in Blackwater. He could now hired people to do the hunting, which allowed him to spend more time with his family. Elizabeth had now a few regular customers for her flower arrangements, otherwise she was taking care of Mia and the few animals they had, which was really only a cow and a few chicken. 

A few years later, they even found some old friends.

***

Micah was at the shop, checking on the stock, when the door opened. He looked up to welcome the person, but froze when he saw who it was. 

John Marston was standing in front of him, just as frozen as Micah. The two looked at each other for a while, both speechless from surprise.

“Marston” Micah was the first to come back to his sense as he greeted the man with a nod.

“Micah” John answered, stepping further into the shop “That’s a nice place. You own it?” John asked, trying to sound casual.

“You can say that, yeah. Coming back in Blackwater too?” he asked in return.

“Yes. I bought some land not too far, up in Beecher’s Hope. Build a little house” he explained briefly.

There was a short silence, not too uncomfortable.

“You’re still with Elizabeth?” John asked, afraid to say something wrong.

“Yes, we also have a house, south of here” Micah nodded.

“Glad to hear it. Well... I’ll leave you to it, still have some stuff to do in town” John said as he walked towards to door.

“Actually, what about visiting us tomorrow. I’m sure Elizabeth would love to see you all again” Micah quickly added, not looking directly at the man.

“... Alright, sounds good” John answered, surprised by the proposition. 

The two men nodded and John left the shop. Micah let out a sight as he looked at the ceiling. What a good surprise it’s going to be for Elizabeth. A perfect surprise for her birthday.

The next day, Elizabeth and Micah were enjoying their afternoon on their porch. Elizabeth had her eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face. 

“What a great day” she said with a happy sigh, her eye still closed, not seeing the wagon approaching from afar.

Micah saw it and smirked.

“And I’m sure it’s gonna get even better” he said mysteriously, making Elizabeth look at him with furrowed brows. He simply nodded in the direction of the newcomers. Elizabeth turned her head and both her eyes and mouth opened widely when she saw the three persons walking towards them.

“It can’t be” she managed to say, a smile creeping on her face as she started to walk towards the figures.

After Abigail climbed down the wagon, she also started to walk towards Elizabeth, both their stepping getting quicker as they got closer to each other. When they met, hey threw themselves in the other arms.

“I can’t believe it! It’s been so long” Elizabeth said as she laughed in the woman’s arms.

“It has! What a lovely house you have here” Abigail said as she turned to look at the little house.

“Thanks, I like it a lot. But how did you know we were here?” Elizabeth asked, still confused by their sudden apparition.

“I met John in town, and I told him to come and visit us. Thought you’d like it” Micah said as he joined everyone in front of the house. He nodded politely to the Marston while Elizabeth went to hug John, too, way too excited to notice his slight embarrassment as he looked at Abigail. Elizabeth also greeted warmly Jack.

“I really do! Please come inside, I’ll prepare some coffee” Elizabeth said as she guided the Marston inside.

They talked for a long time. Elizabeth introduced Mia to her friends when she woke up from her nap. They learned that John has been in the Great Plain for quite a while, to find and build a little house for his family. Elizabeth understood that it was a bit more complicate than that, but didn’t mention it. They also learned that Sadie, Charles, and even Uncle were around, and Elizabeth told the Marston to bring them along next time.

The Marston ended up staying for dinner, talking about everything that happened since the fall of the gang, but never really mentioning it.

Later in the evening, Micah excused himself to go out for a smoke and was soon followed by John, to Abigail’s surprise. The two women went on with their discussion, mainly about their recent wedding.

“Quite the house you have” John said, trying to make conversation to break the awkward silence.

“Yeah, chose the right time to play the hero I guess” Micah said with a smirk.

There was another silence.

“I wanted to thank you again, for what you did back then” John then said, the atmosphere getting a bit heavier and serious.

“Don’t mention it. It’s been so long now” Micah said quietly.

“But I insist. What you did for us, and for... him” John say, his voice hesitating at the end.

“I couldn’t do a thing for Morgan. I was too late” Micah said as he threw his cigarette away, looking at the horizon in front of him.

“But you went back for him. You tried. You didn’t have to, I didn’t even believe you would, but you did. You know, he was like a brother to me. So yeah... I really appreciate what you did. Thank you” John said as he only looked at his feet.

Micah simply nodded in silence, not really sur what to say. So instead, he simply lifted his pack of cigarette in front of John. 

John looked at him a bit surprised for a moment before smiling slightly and accepting a cigarette.

They smoked their cigarette in silence, this time it was a comfortable one, before joining the ladies inside. They talked a bit more before leaving, as it was already really late, and Jack has been asleep on the sofa for hours.

***

When they next met, it was at the Marston’s ranch to say goodbye to Sadie and Charles. She wanted to live on her own for a while and Charles decided to move to Canada, to try to build himself a new life, with a family.

After that, the two families tried to meet every now and then. It was always very pleasant, even Micah realized he appreciated their company. They would eat together at least once a week, if not more.

“You sure I should come?” Micah asked as they drank their evening coffee with Elizabeth.

“Why shouldn’t you? You have every right to come, everyone agreed. Plus, I would really appreciate it if you accompanied me” Elizabeth said as she took one of his hands and squeezed it in a comforting way.

Micah simply nodded before they finished their coffee and went to bed. They were going to have quite a ride to do the next day.

***

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a soft breeze. Abigail managed to convince, well, to order Uncle to give them a ride to Riggs Station. He fought a bit against the idea, saying that it was not good to ride a wagon with his terminal lumbago, but soon gave in. 

The Marston and the Bell took the train up until Bacchus Station, the bridge having been repaired since John and Arthur blew it up eight years ago. They followed the path, guided by John, and then cut thought the wilderness before reaching an odd little house.

“I wonder who lived here” Elizabeth said as she looked at the house, which looked more like some sort of small hill.

John chuckled at her comment, which earned him a few confused glances, but he simply continued to walked, starting to climb some rock.

“We’re almost there” he said as he looked behind his shoulder to make sure everyone was following safely. 

Micah helped Elizabeth to climb some rocks by taking her hand, but was surprised when she didn’t let go of his, but instead squeezed it. He understood she started to get anxious, and slowly rubbed gentle circles on her hand with his thumb.

When they reached the top, they stood speechless from what was in front of them.

There was a cross at the edge of the rock, surrounded by beautiful flowers. On top of it was sitting an eagle, scanning the horizon. When he heard movement, he quickly turned his head to look at the intruders. He simply watched them for a moment. It was as if time as stopped. A moment of quietness as they all watched the bird perched majestically in front of the wide horizon. It lasted a few seconds before the bird spread his wings and flew into the sky. They watched it as it disappeared.

“You can go first” Elizabeth said quietly to the Marston after a moment.

Abigail and John both went closer to the grave and Elizabeth and Micah stayed back, giving them some privacy.

“It’s truly a beautiful place. Charles really knows wonderful spots” Elizabeth said as she looked around as she put her arms around herself tightly.

Micah noticed and put his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

“It is, yes” he sighted before giving Elizabeth a tender kiss on her temple.

When it was their turn, they walked towards the cross. 

“Arthur Morgan, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” could be read, craved in the wood.

Elizabeth put the flower arrangement she made around the cross. It was made of pretty orange flowers that grow around her house. She looked at it with a smile before putting her hand on Arthur’s engraved name.

“You did well, Arthur Morgan. We’re good now” she said, as a single tear rolled down her cheeks.

***

When they stepped in their house the evening, they ate dinner and then installed themselves comfortably in the sofa in front of the lighted fire in the chimney. Mia was in Elizabeth lap, while Elizabeth was cuddled up against Micah, who had his arm around her shoulder. No one talked, they simply listened to the crackling fire, enjoying each other closeness and warmth. 

They were happy, and they would be for many more years. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The last chapter! I really enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much!  
> Thank you so much to have read it! I will work on another Micah x OC in the few next months (I wish sooner, but University won't let me ^^). So if you're interesting, check out my Wattpad profile (mjarashi). For the time being, there is some Oneshots, but I'll think I'll probably publish the new story on Wattpad before here.
> 
> Thanks again and see you! 
> 
> Bisous <3


End file.
